Picking Up The Pieces
by daisiesinthepages
Summary: Life always seemed to get more simple the further away she was from her unorthodox family, but a healthy dose of guilt caused by the destruction of Sokovia might be just what she needs to patch up a few broken relationships. What she didn't expect was to start a new one with a silver metal murderer in his most vulnerable form and to lose so much along the way. (Ultron/OC)
1. One

**A/N: Thought it might be wise to give myself a project to work on in between chapter for 'The Key', and I love myself a bit of Ultron. There's a couple of fics out there that use the 'Female Mechanic' route (all of which I thoroughly enjoy reading) but I wanted to try something a little different without stretching the boundaries of credulity too far. Obviously this vaguely humorous first-person POV fic isn't nearly as serious as The Key, but I really needed the practice in both lighthearted writing and first-person, so here you go! Since I'm dividing my time between the two fics the update speed will depend on demand via review. If this ends up being the more popular piece I might shift it to top priority, but I'll see how it goes, first. Enjoy!**

Sokovia had never been a particularly wealthy place, the people knew that if an opportunity arose, any opportunity, you had to take it. Even when they came bundled up in unimaginable trauma. It had been three years since I had seen my homeland, and when I finally did it was on breaking news, the story covered in Mandarin.

When I had left to study university in South-East China I had promised myself I would never look back, that I deserved to get the hell out of there. I had never meant to feel guilty for deciding to be independent, but seeing your home floating above the Earth in some sort of convoluted extermination plot, and spending hours wondering if your family was alive or dead will play cat-and-mouse with your emotions like few other things can.

To be perfectly honest, when the reports had first started trending, talking about highly intelligent androids swarming my city I had immediately thought my father to be at fault. Who else would pick such an obscure little place for something like that? But no, just like everything else, it wasn't long before the Stark name became tacked onto that, too. I was starting to think he did it for attention. On my end, though, while Stark was probably cleaning up the mess he made, I was arguing on the phone in Mandarin for a plane flight, one they couldn't give me, because you'd have to be a fool to fly into a war zone like Sokovia.

So, after being stuck there for so long and struggling to get out, I was now stuck in another country, trying to get back in. For several hours I sat on the floor, back against the wall, phone in my hand and eyes on the small box television, waiting for word to come.

Eventually it did, but it was so far from what I had wanted to hear that I would have probably preferred nothing at all. My father called, and he was still the same as always. He was fine, of course. He even got a good look around at the inside of SHEILD people movers they used to get them off the 'island' before it was destroyed. In fact, he was giving me such a detailed description of the transport that it took me interrupting his spiel three times before he told me if my brother was alive. Which he was. Pa then put Aleks on the phone, to receive much the same excited babble from him. The robots, they said, were incredible. Murderous and evil, of course, but so well designed!

In the end, I cut them off with a goodbye sharper than they probably deserved after going through what they did, but had they cared at all about what I had gone through, away from the action?

For two weeks I went to class, and brooded, and slept, and repeated. I didn't answer the phone, or watch the news. Of course, I was on the internet so much that there wasn't anything on there that I wasn't already aware of. Two weeks I sulked before I could pull myself out of it, and do what needed to be done.

Most of the nearest airports had been designated specifically for relief efforts in the wake of the destruction, and even then they weren't letting just anyone into the ones left open. I was able to purchase a ticket, mainly due to my passport and family from the area, but the security hurdles I had to go through were rather ridiculous. Here I had though that when I eventually took time off from class I would be going on holiday. Goodness only knew that spending extended amounts of time with my family was more like a chore, but someone had to make sure that they were really okay, had been eating and sleeping. They would have lost the house, obviously, as it was in the half of the city that went for a ride. Where were they even staying? They were probably too scatterbrained to apply for whatever refugee housing that had been set up.

But that was family, right? It didn't really matter how independent you worked to be, because in the end it would be them needing you, and you would do it because even though sometimes you didn't _like_ them, you still loved them.

On the flight over, I managed to again be honest with myself; part of me, a very strange, twisted part of me that I had spent the better part of my adult life trying to ignore, was jealous of them. I had packed my bags and moved to one of the most interesting places on Earth, and they were still the ones having the adventures. That part tended to wish that I had thrown caution to the wind years ago to join the family trade of mechanics and engineering and general scifi enthusiasm, but someone had to be the practical one, and I had drawn the short straw, after Ma had passed.

Thankfully the flight wasn't as long as it could have been, China being a not-too-distant neighbor, and I wasn't left alone with my nervous energy for too long. Then it was just a two hour taxi ride from the next city over, during which I used that energy to idly chatter at my driver just to stay sane, and shake the rust off my mother tongue. It was strange the frequency with which the odd Chinese or English word of phrase wanted to sneak into what I was saying. All of a sudden three years was feeling longer than it had before. And then I saw her; my home.

Or, rather, half of it.

The sight of the destruction up close brought more than one tear to my eyes. I must have looked fairly awful by the end of it, because when the taxi dropped me off in the town square the driver gave me a pitying look before taking my money and driving off. Maybe if I had kicked it up a notch I could have gotten my ride for free. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess. Brushing it off, I took out my phone and dialed my father's mobile number. It rang for so long I though he wouldn't pick up, but on what had to be the last ring there was a click. "Atyets? Pa is that you?" 

"Katja! This is not your number. Who's phone are you using?" came my father's rough and expressive voice, and already I was heaving a sigh.

"Atyets, this is my Sokovian sim card. I did leave a message a couple days ago that I was coming to see you. Did you get it?" My free hand pinched at the bridge of my nose. Of course this would be the one time they did not check their emails.

"You are in Sokovia? Why didn't you let me know you were coming home?" he demanded, aghast, and totally oblivious to most things I said, as usual.

"Never mind, Pa. Where are you staying?" I asked, hoping he had a conclusive answer to give me, "Right now I am just standing on the side of the street with my suitcases."

There was a pause and a quiet shuffle of something or other, with some muffled whispering on the other side. My guess was the receiver had been covered, which irritated me. What exactly was going on over there, or didn't I want to know? Eventually his voice returned, "Oh, it is easy place to find. Near the crater."

"Near the _crater_? Pa, what are you doing over there? It's probably dangerous!"

"Do not worry yourself, sis," my brother chimed in, indicating that I was now on speaker phone, "it is perfectly safe here."

"Aleks, asking me not to worry about you is like telling the Earth to stop turning." I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes for a moment to gather myself. "You know what, it's fine, just tell me how to get there."

A twenty minute inner-city taxi ride later and I was in the general area, at least. Or I hoped so, they had been so vague on the phone. So again I stood on the sidewalk, clutching the handle to my luggage, scanning the area for any signs of my family, my anxiety growing every second. This part of town had been more affected than where I had gotten out first, the buildings cracked from sudden seismic activity and rubble littering the ground. I wish I was shocked to know they were living in such a place, but honestly it was just so _typical_.

"Hey, sis!"

I whirled around at the call and familiar voice, to see the even more familiar face, and felt the grin stretch my cheeks despite myself. "I was beginning to think you had given me bogus directions, 'Leksy," I joked as he jogged over and wrapped me in a bear hug. I didn't want to admit how comforting it was either. "I see you haven't been shaving as often as I'd like."

He ran a hand over the three day growth and smirked, "Well, the ladies seem to like it just fine."

I rolled my eyes and swatted at his arm. "Honestly, if any girl is crazy enough to come near you I will personally see to it that she knows _exactly_ what she's herself getting into." He just laughed my jab off, though it seemed to me that he could afford to. Three years I had seen nothing but the occasional crappy photograph, but it was clear now that my baby brother was growing up.

"Come on, Katja, we have something waiting for you at home," he said, grabbing my suitcase in one hand and my hand in his other, and pulling us both in the direction he came from.

That was suspicious. "What do you mean you have something for me? Is it a good something or a bad something?" It seemed almost a _normal_ thing to do. Something must have been up.

"It is a very good something," he assured me, his dark curls bobbing against his forehead as he nodded. This, of course, meant that the _whatever-it-was_ had to be very _bad_. I swallowed, mentally preparing myself for whatever would come next.

The route I was lead through was long and winding, passing through small alleys and gaps between buildings, and at one point I accidentally stepped in a puddle of I-didn't-want-to-know-what, but eventually we came to a building that Aleks came to a stop in front of. He released my hand and gestured grandly to it, announcing, "Welcome home!" before taking my suitcase with him through the front door as I stood there blinking.

It was an old auto-repair shed. Honestly, that wasn't too far from what I had grown up in, but there were so many questions I had, _Who's property was it? How did they get permission to live here? Where exactly were they living in there?_ From what I could see, the building consisted of a large garage, to which the doors were closed, and the small attached office and waiting room, where my brother had disappeared into. Of course I was unimpressed.

But, I took a deep breath and let out an even deeper sigh, steeled myself, and walked up the couple of stairs to the door, pushing it open. "Hello Pa, I made it," I called out as I entered, though it would have been obvious with Aleks bringing my suitcase in. I had expected to get another too-tight hug, but the room was empty, bar the mattress on the tacky linoleum flooring, my yellow suitcase left against the wall, and the table with the half-finished mug of black coffee my Pa was so fond of. "Atyets? Where are you guys?" Making my way slowly towards the only other door, the one that must lead out to the workshop, I felt my anxiety spike again. Why hadn't they been there to welcome me? And why hadn't they answered when I yelled?

I tried the handle, and it wasn't locked, so I told myself I was being silly and opened the door, peering around it into the large space. There was Aleks, looking nervous, beside the slightly overweight and much too hairy form of my father, who spun around to face me as I stepped over the threshold. If I was worried and suspicious before, now I was doubly so. "Okay guys, you better tell me what's going on, right now."

"Allow me," interrupted a deep male voice I had never heard in my life. I turned so quickly to my left to see the speaker that I'm sure I gave myself whiplash, but that was nothing compared to the fright I got when my eyes met glowing red optics set in a worn metal head. My gaze drifted downwards as I took a step back; machined neck, shoulders and torso, exposed wires everywhere, connected to hips and- I stopped myself there, not wanting to embarrass myself further, looking back into what must have served it for eyes. Though the broken android's face was solid, amusement was clearly conveyed in his metallic chuckle, "So this is your darling daughter, Feliks. And here I had pictured her to be more... _surly_. Get her looks from her mother's side, does she?"

Swallowing thickly, I held up a finger to pause the Ultron-bot, for what else could it be, turned around, and sent a vicious glare to the sheepish forms of my brother and father. Just when I thought they could hardly be any more troublesome.

 **A/N: I would like to thank my crazy-ass relatives and the three weeks I just spent clearing out their hoarding for the inspiration for this story. I love you, but your habits drive me 'round the bend :)**

 **Thanks for reading, and leave a review!**


	2. Two

**A/N: Actually this ended up being more popular than I had expected! Apparently there are either more or just as many Ultron/OC fans as Scarlet Vision. Who'd have guessed? Thanks for the faves, follows, reads and reviews, everyone who did so! Lets see where this is going...**

"So, anyone want to tell me why there's a homicidal maniac in the building?" I asked tersely, slathering mayonnaise on wholewheat bread; the only two food items they had in there, unsurprisingly. Upon the unexpected run in with the infamous android, or rather, about three quarters of the android, given his current state, I had dragged the other two carbon based life forms back into the waiting-room-turned-residence to get a straight explanation. While I wasn't keen on leaving the bot unsupervised, I figured it couldn't be any worse than being in the room with him and I needed some answers or I was going to go ballistic.

"There's really no problem, Katja," my Pa tried to reassure me, though I wasn't buying any of it. "It was just a little project that turned out better than we had expected it to."

"Oh, you call this _better_? I call this crazy! You saw what he did, you were right there," I exclaimed hysterically, turning to give them another angry look while I bit into the sandwich.

Pa shook his head, "Now, sweetheart, be rational about this. You cannot really blame him. He's just a robot with programming, after all."

I sputtered at that and put my piece of bread down. Aleks wisely took a step out of the firing line and stayed quiet. " _Rational_? _You_ are asking _me_ to be rational?" I, well, honestly I shrieked, jabbing a finger in my fathers chest. "I have spent my whole life dealing with you and your ' _rational_ ' schemes, Atyets. You can call me judgmental, you can call me uptight, or heartless, but don't you _dare_ call me irrational when I have given up so much to make up for _your_ irrationality." With rage giving all of my movements a sharpness I picked up my sandwich again, took an angry bite, then muttered around the mouthful, "And don't give me any of that 'programming' crap either, it's clear as day to me that the little pissbot does whatever the hell he wants."

With those bitter words hanging in the air like a sour smell, I stormed my way out of the building, slamming the door behind me. It had been a mistake to come back here. Every time I tried to make things better they just ended up worse. For a minute I looked around the street for a clean spot, but then sighed and sat where I was, at the bottom stair, and put my head in my hands. A few minutes passed, but I'm not sure how many, before the door behind me quietly clicked open and I was joined in my spot. "Go away, Aleks," I mumbled rather pathetically, "I just want to be left alone."

"No, really," came the deep American accent of the person I wanted to see second least of all at that moment, second only to my father, Ultron himself, "please, I want you to go on and on about your daddy issues while I sit hear and nod at various intervals."

While my first response to discovering it was him at my left on the stairs was gut-wrenching fear, the _rational_ response, after hearing that god-awful dry sarcasm I could do nothing more than stare at him with a deadpan expression and take another bite of mayo-bread. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not polite to mock people?" I replied in kind, then regretted it. What if he felt like he owned sarcasm and killed anyone who used it other than him?

"Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not polite to talk with your mouth full?"

I couldn't help it, even though I had kind of been asking for it, the comeback was surprising enough that I snorted back a laugh and ended inhaling the offending mouthful. Now choking, to add that to the list of awful things that had happened that day, I coughed and hacked and tried to breathe, getting no help from the chuckling android beside me. Eventually, but with much difficulty, I managed to get the half-eaten chunk back up and promptly spat it into the gutter, trying to catch my breath.

"Well, that wasn't very lady-like." Apparently Ultron had an unwanted opinion for everything. With an exaggerated eye roll in response, I came to the conclusion that the company inside wasn't quite as bad as it was outside, stood and walked back in. Aleks straightened and looked at me in surprise, but I noticed Pa was nowhere in sight. Knowing him, he'd probably gone into the garage to tinker with something until he'd cooled off.

"How'd you guys go?" Aleks asked, and I sent him a bitter look, figuring he was completely aware of the fact that I had gotten a dose of surprisingly sassy murderbot.

That's when the sudden realization hit me: I had just had an almost-conversation with a being that had nearly managed to eradicate my species only two weeks prior, and lived to tell the tale.

And, despite the fact that I could have choked to death while he laughed, it hadn't actually been the most unpleasant thing I had ever done.

* * *

"Hey, Pa? There wasn't any food in the house so I ordered pizza. Still like anchovies?" I asked timidly as I stepped into the dim light of the garage a couple of hours later. I had calmed down since our little spat, it was nothing out of the ordinary, after all. However, I had come here with the purpose of seeing if they were okay and helping them through this difficult time. Sure, having a resurrected enemy of humanity certainly added an extra level of complexity, but I shouldn't let it change me or my feelings toward my family. They were grownups, they could make their own decisions. It wasn't going to be easy, but nothing in my life had been easy, and I had managed to do all of that stuff just fine in the end.

He looked up from the workbench and raised the face shield of his welding helmet, smudging grease on his cheek as he went. It was a nostalgic sight. "Oh, you're still here, Katja. I was worried I had driven you away, again," he said sorrowfully, giving me that puppy face that I had fallen for so many times before.

I heaved a heavy sigh. "Atyets, you should know by now that you can infuriate me until the stars die and I'll never leave forever," I told him without meeting his gaze, as emotional talk wasn't one of my strong points, and never had been. I set the pizza box down on the corner of the workbench, noticing the glowing features of the resident android in the corner of the room, hooked up to some batteries and doing something with a notepad and pen. I chose to ignore that elephant for now, not keen on starting another fight just yet.

"When you left last time I thought you had," he replied with a sigh and a scratch at his beard-covered cheek.

"Oh, Atyets, I know you were upset when I went to China, but you know I never did it because I didn't love you. I'll always love you and Aleks, and Ma too. I only left because I needed to experience something more than fixing the neighbor's toaster and updating people's operating systems. That stuff is your life, not mine."

He huffed a little and pouted, "When you were little you loved these things. I would get you a gaming console, and instead of playing you would just pull it apart and put it together. Over and over! You showed much potential, but then-" he cut himself off and pursed his lips, sadness taking over him like a black cloud.

"Then Ma got sick, right, Pa?" I sighed through my nose and traced the pizza box's logo with the tip of my finger. "Someone had to look after you and Aleks. After that I just didn't have the time and energy for games anymore."

At that he gathered me into the rib-crushing hug I had missed when I had arrived, and even though he smelt like solder and sweat, and he had probably put permanent black grease stains all over my sweater, and this definitely wouldn't be the end to our bickering, after spending several hours in Sokovia so far, this was the first time I had felt like I was finally home.

"Get a room, you two," came the nauseated input from the pile of scrap metal in the corner. I rolled my eyes again, earning a snicker from my Pa. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?"

"No, I just looked from you back to the pizza," I replied innocently.

"What, via the ceiling?" Apparently Atyets found Ultron's little jab hilarious and I swatted his arm and groaned.

"I swear, you two are as bad as each other!"

At that point Aleks poked his head through the doorway and said, "I hope you got more than one pizza without Atyets' little fishies, sis, because I just finished the one you left in here."

I gaped a him with an expression that spoke my feelings of betrayal. "You ate my pizza?" Pa and Ultron may have been awful in their own right, but that was when I knew that the real villain in the building was my baby brother.

* * *

In the end I had to share Pa's pizza, and just pick off the anchovies. It wasn't the same, but I was hungry enough after nothing but airline food and a nasty mayonnaise sandwich to just force it down and not ask questions. For the record, Aleks did apologize for scoffing the pizza without asking, but he was so tall now, and he seemed so skinny for someone as broad in the shoulder as him, that I couldn't resent him for it for long. Who knows how long it had been since the kid had had a decent meal? I decided I would stock the makeshift house full of the basic food groups first thing tomorrow. I only had about three weeks off school before I fell irreparably behind, but hopefully it would be enough time to put a little meat _on_ my brother's bones, and _off_ my father's. Healthy eating mustn't have been on the cards at all since I left. I gave a worried look at my Pa, who was eating pizza with one hand and measuring sheet metal with the other. "What exactly are you working on, Atyets?" I asked, peering over and trying to get a good look at the plans.

He raised his eyebrows at me, seemingly surprised that I was interested. "Well, we're still trying to get Ultron back to fully functional. He's giving us the schematics, and we're, that is, your brother and I are doing what we can with them."

"And you aren't at all worried about what he'll do when he is up and running?" I asked incredulously.

"I am right here, you know," the robot in question commented with irritation.

I smirked, "Yeah, I know."

"Ultron has given us his word that he won't harm us," Pa answered my question. "And besides, he owes us at least that, he was dead until we put him back together."

While taking someone like Ultron's word was crazy enough to my ears, it was the second statement that made me frown. "What do you mean dead?" I half expected Ultron to pipe up with some grandiose statement that Pa was exaggerating and that nothing could truly kill one so intelligent as he, but the android remained silent for once.

"Well, this one here is bits and pieces from several of the robots that attacked: this one had a head that was mostly intact, this one a CPU, this one a reactor, a memory core, an arm, a leg, you get the picture. And it wasn't easy getting them with SHIELD on cleanup duty." Pa was telling the story like a humorous anecdote, but I was feeling a little sick. That could have just been the smelly anchovies, though. "When we were putting him together, we thought we'd just have a plain old piece of machinery on our hands, a blank slate, we could never have guessed that the Ultron program would resurrect. I had thought that CPU was in fantastic condition considering, but to not have lost any of its data!" He shook his head in amazement, "Incredible."

Our strange and rather unpleasant little discourse was interrupted by a metal hand slamming another few sheets of paper onto the bench. "These are the plans for the reactor repairs, and some others. That should keep you busy enough so you don't feel the need for endless chatter," the android grunted, and skulked back to his previous spot, attaching the clamps back to the receivers in his chest. It must have been odd for him to be so dependent on simple human devices like car batteries and jumper cables. He noticed my staring and I quickly looked away, not wanting to earn his contempt. That could only end in pain.

So instead, I picked up the papers and flicked through them. Most of them were fairly boring, though no doubt Pa and Aleks would find them fascinating, but the last two caught my eye. After pages of technical diagrams of various parts, the aesthetically pleasing image of a intricate robotic face and then a body where an abrupt but welcome change. The images were familiar, but I'd only ever seen grainy photos and videos taken from afar. These were the designs to Ultron's first and prime body, the one that had obviously been destroyed with the rest of him.

Pa picked up on my sudden interest with whatever designs had just been delivered and came to stare over my shoulder, "Beautifully designed and balanced, isn't it? A work of art."

"Yeah," I breathed, "beautiful."

* * *

 **A/N: Okey! So, I don't know if this will be off putting to anyone, but if you're reading this kind of thing to begin with I don't see why you would be... Anyway, Katja is Technosexual and a Mechaphile to begin with (like the author *sob*). She's semi-closeted, but in a world where sentient robots just don't exist how could she not be, and then BAM Ultron. Her body naturally finds his body attractive much the same as we find our preferred gender attractive, and that's just how she is. Of course, that just leaves them to deal with all the obvious problems. There's a loooong road ahead of us in this fic. Happy Endings don't just happen overnight!**

 **Anyway, you keep reviewing, I'll keep writing!**


	3. Three

**A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed! You guys make my day, honestly. With out further ado, let us get on with chapter three!**

* * *

That night, after a brief negotiation on bedding arrangements, I had flopped onto the mattress in the waiting room and almost immediately fell asleep. Stress never did stop me from getting to sleep, I wasn't a tosser and turner, but if I had a dollar for every time I was woken up because my body was on some weird high alert, I'd have enough money to buy the expensive latte I obviously needed. Eventually I gave up on trying to catch my share of winks and checked the time on my phone. Not even six in the morning yet. Great.

With a groan I pushed myself into a seated position and stretched the kinks out of my spine with a satisfying series of cracks. It was still dark out, so I had to stand and fumble around until the pads of my fingers found the light switch, which was near blinding when it was turned on. So then, squinting and shading my eyes, I made my sluggish way to the door to the garage. Yesterday I had found the bathroom that was obviously for employees when there were some at the back of the shop, and now felt like a good time to empty my bladder. I ran a hand through my hair and grimaced. Perhaps hand soap and a sink would be enough to wash it. Fetching my bag of toiletries from the suitcase, I started my tip-toe pre-dawn journey.

I opened the door slowly, wincing at the squeak, and stepped into the darkened room of the workshop, the artificial light flooding through the doorway enough to guide my way through. Off to one side I could just make out the forms of Aleks and Pa, Aleks on a ratty old couch and Atyets on the other mattress not far away. Though, even if I couldn't see them, I'd be able to hear their snoring a mile away. The other resident of the room, with his constant and vaguely threatening presence, was awake, and staring at me from his place at the workbench, watching with those glowing scarlet eye-slits. I had never known a bunch of red LEDs to be so intimidating. For a moment I considered just backing out into the room from which I came, but in the end the need to pee outweighed my self-preservation.

"Um, I'm just going to... go to the bathroom. So... yeah," I mumbled nervously, feeling like I for some reason had to explain myself him, while edging around the outskirts of the room towards to bathroom, keeping as much distance between me and him as possible at all times. My eyes never left him, and his never left me, though he didn't bother to dignify my feeble explanation with a response. In the darkness and my distraction my foot clipped a piece of shrapnel, almost tripping me over, but I caught myself and kept going, mentally kicking myself for proving the extent to which one could be 'un-smooth'. When my hand finally felt the cold metal knob of the door I almost cried in relief, racing in and locking it behind me.

After dealing with my 'morning routine' on the toilet and scrubbing my hands clean, I stared at the sink and weighed my options. Cold water and hand soap hair wash? Was it worth it? I glanced at my reflection in the grungy mirror. Yes. Definitely worth it. So I bent over, stuck my head in the sink that wasn't meeting my standards of cleanliness, and turned the tap on. The water was freezing, causing my teeth to chatter, so I worked as quickly as I could, rubbing the soap into my scalp and rinsing it out. Of course, when I was done and standing straight again, I realized the other thing the rudimentary bathroom was lacking: towels. Cursing my life, I wrung out my hair as best I could, and pulled the small hand towel I had thought to pack in with my toothbrush and toothpaste. At this point I was cursing myself for not packing shampoo and conditioner, too. But, alas, I used that little face washer, barely bigger than the span of my hand, to dry my hair as best I could. It was better than nothing, after all. When that was done I brushed my teeth and almost felt like a new woman, free from filth and morning breath.

Then I stepped back out and remembered how much reality sucked. Ultron was still there, though this time he didn't turn around to acknowledge my presence, just kept welding whatever it was that he was working on while the others slept. A good thing they were such heavy sleepers, because that _bzzt_ ing sound and flashes were probably what had kept waking me up all night. Still, I was curious, and the boys were right there if something grizzly happened and I needed to scream. Hence, I padded my bare feet across the concrete floor with a mind to keeping quiet, and tried to get a look at what he was working on. My father's project from last night had been placed to the side, and it was clear that it was nowhere near as complex as whatever the android was making was. And then, peering closer, I realized that thing was attached to the inside of his chest. My eyes bugged out of my skull. "Is that thing your _heart_?"

He placed down the welding iron, which in hindsight I shouldn't have been looking at for my eyes' sake, and looked at me, and I'm sure if he had a functioning face he would have been wearing the kind of expression that just screamed 'please take your stupidity away from me before I catch it'. "No, it's not a heart. I don't have one of those. It's my reactor core," he told in a no-duh tone of voice, probably mentally rolling his eyes.

"Gee, thanks for the healthy dose of condescension, Ultron. It's still basically your version of a heart. Pumps around the stuff that keeps you running," I expanded in a tone to match his.

He sighed like only a robot with no lungs can. "That is a gross oversimplification."

I just shrugged, unhurt. "Whatever. So what's wrong with it?"

"It's not working."

"Ouch."

"Pretty much. Thank you for your insight."

I scrunched my face up and brushed damp hair back behind my ears. "Ease up on the attitude until I've had my dose of caffeine, Sassbot. You kept me up all night, after all."

"What? Who kept my sister up all night?" Aleks demanded, looking around wildly, somehow being roused by those words and getting the total wrong end of the stick. Even worse, it had a domino affect.

" _Someone kept my little girl up all night_?" my Pa roared, instantly on his feet and picking up whatever was nearest to clobber someone with, which just happened to be a shoe. I just buried my face in my hands with an exaggerated moan, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me. Ultron, however, found this, like most things, utterly hilarious, and was stifling laughter behind his hand. I peeked through my fingers to witness it, the bizarre picture of natural movement, _human_ movement, even though a metal and to a metal mouth had no logical reason or practical value behind the action.

It gave me a strange image, not of the highly advanced robot that my Pa and bother saw, but rather, a true, human mind, trapped within a mechanical body. Again Ultron noticed my odd look and immediately ceased, turning his focus back on his project, but the damage had been done. I had started to change my opinion of him, just ever so slightly. Blinking a few times, and feeling a little dazed, I told them in a faraway manner, "I'm... I'm going to head out and pick up some groceries."

"In your nightclothes?" Aleks asked, now that he had woken up properly and realized that no one was deflowering his sister.

Shaking my head free of the cotton wool within it, I looked down at my grey flannelette pajamas and found out he was right. "After I get changed, that is. Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

As I was stepping back into the other room I couldn't help but smile as I heard Pa ask confusedly, "So who was keeping Katja up?"

* * *

The walk into the part of the city that was still functioning was long and complicated, but with the help of my phone's GPS- after I made sure to put a pin in the location of the 'hideaway'- I did manage to make it there unscathed. Actually, there was probably a benefit to having such a long walk, because now that it was a bit later businesses were actually open. Soon there were people milling about on the street, and carts set up in every possible spot selling every possible produce. The resourcefulness of the Sokovian people warmed my heart. As long as they had a trike with a trailer, they always had a source of income. It was a lot like China in that regard.

But, despite the convenience of the street-side morning market, my first stop of the day was past the table where they were gutting fish and past the old lady selling okra and some other vegetable I had never seen, and sat within a quaint looking building on the corner. Coffee.

Despite the fact I probably could have really done with a lazy sit within the cozy cafe, I knew I had to get back to the others before something disastrous happened, so I got the latte to-go, and stepped back into the chaos of the market with a brave face.

It should have gone a lot smoother than it did, considering I was used to buying food this way in China and had done so here before then for years, but my rusty use of the mother tongue, and the fact that speaking mainly Mandarin had changed my accent in various places, they all thought I was a foreigner. Hence I became barer of the renown 'foreigner surcharge', because, you know, if someone isn't from here they must be rich and therefore we can rip them off. After arguing with the little wrinkly old lady, she had to be ninety years old, for ten minutes over the price of her eggs, I gave up and just gave her what she was asking for, about three times what they were worth. Most expensive damn eggs I had bought in my life, but who knew what she needed the money for? I tried to be considerate about these things. Goodness knows that even with my crazy and usually money-thin life she probably needed it more than I did. Still, after a few accounts much the same, my wallet was feeling much lighter than I would have liked.

When I got back to the workshop I was heavily laden with real food; vegetables and fruit and meat and legumes, and kicked at the door to knock on it because my hands were full. After a listening to a scuffle from inside, Aleks came to the door, looking relieved to see it was only me. "Why did you knock so loud? We thought you were SHIELD."

I rolled my eyes and stepped in, placing the bags on the table. "Well, if you weren't harboring a fugitive you wouldn't have to be worried about things like that," I said as I unloaded the groceries.

"Oh, come on, sis, don't be like that. It will all be worth it in the end; we need the money," he replied, and I turned to him with a searching look.

"What do you mean, money?" I asked, getting a sinking feeling. Aleks, too, seemed to understand that he had said something that he perhaps shouldn't have.

"I had thought Atyets would have explained this to you already. Sis, Ultron told us that if we help him with his repairs, he will give us money, load it into our bank account. Millions, Katja, he will give us millions. He knows how."

I swallowed thickly, and stared at the yellowed wall. "And what will you do if he does not fulfill his promise?"

"Well, we will just do what we planned to do with him before he woke up; wipe his programming and sell the robotics to whoever will pay the most. See? Nothing will go wrong," he tried to reassure me, misreading my aversion for fear.

I shook my head. "No."

"No?"

"No! We are better than this sort of underhanded scheming."

Now he was really confused. To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was trying to say, myself. "Katja, weren't you always telling us that Ultron must have some ulterior motive, some scheme? Why are you now upset at us for preparing for the double-cross?"

I grasped the edge of the table and clenched my teeth. "I'm not sure," I replied, and I wasn't. "I just feel very strongly about this. And why is money so important, anyway?"

He frowned at me, pulling an apple out of one of the bags and rubbing it on his shirt. "We don't have a house or business anymore, sis. He destroyed them, along with the entire economy here. Why do you think we are living in a place like this? It is because no one else would risk it, so we do not have to pay. Because of Ultron we have nothing, and now we hold his life in our hands. Does he not owe us this?"

"I don't know, Aleks," I began, shoulders drooping from the weight of the world, "but to me, holding someone's life as blackmail seems like a pretty dick move. It shouldn't matter who they are what they have done." I took the last bit of coffee in my cup and went back outside, finding my spot on the stair again.

I stared blankly ahead, trying to figure my emotions out. What was worse to me, that my family would potentially sell out the human race, or that they would kill a sentient being for money? Really, I wished that they wouldn't do either, but they had put themselves in the position that those were their only options, besides the fact that the sentient being in question could still turn around at any time and kill them. And was there anything I could even really do? What was I prepared to do? Warn the known killer of what the family I loved planned to do to him? Have that family give a powerful machine of war to someone who could use it to kill innocent people? Let them release the homicidal android back on the world for millions in their pockets? Ultron didn't care about money or who he gave it to! It would mean nothing with humanity extinct. They were all so naive to not see how there were no ends to this where they came out on top.

It was becoming clear to me that I couldn't talk sense into Pa or Aleks, they were too narrow minded. As tragic as it was, if there was going to be any hope for anything, it was going to come from Ultron himself. And me, I was just a silly little girl trying to save her own little world. I was no Avenger. I was nothing. But I had to do something to help keep the Earth safe, because I was one of the idiots who lived on it.

Man, I felt pretty stupid for being jealous over their 'adventures', now.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay! Another one done. This one didn't have QUITE as much Ultron, but I felt it was import for set up. Now, you may have noticed that I haven't actually described Katja, and I've been vague about her family's appearance too. This is so your imagination can input whatever it feels most comfortable with in her place. However, if you would prefer that I just start including how I envisioned her in the narrative, I will begin doing that. If you would like me to send you a description privately, just make sure you're logged in when you ask for it in a review, so I can reply.**

 **Thanks for reading! Leave a review and I'll keep pumping the chapters out!**


	4. Four

**A/N: You guys are beautiful. Thanks for reading this random garbage! I'm so glad some of you are actually enjoying it :) I took a while off writing cuz I was dead tired and lacked inspiration, but I'm back in action now, because of some truly beautiful reviews. Chapter four, ahoy!**

* * *

By the time I had bolstered myself up to face everyone again the groceries I had purchased were gone off the table, and there was a battered mini-fridge in the corner that they must have fixed up and used. The room was deserted of people again, however, and I could hear the welder going in the workshop. While outside I had taken the time to actually explore the area we were living in, and found it was nearly deserted except for a few particularly desperate squatters. Is that what we had been reduced to? Apparently.

What Aleks had said did make some measure of sense, and I wasn't denying it; we _did_ need the money. I only had what I had saved over the years with brief casual jobs, and while I had been confident in my ability to make it stretch to cover expenses while I was here, my stint in the market proved yet again that I was too softhearted and naive for that. I would eventually need a plane ticket back to my home in China, too, and that was a prospect that looked fairly grim, along with many other things since I had come back. It was obvious that they couldn't stay where they were, this cruddy garage, and where would they hope to get the money for a new house? It would be especially hard with so many rendered homeless now, all needing to buy and driving the prices for housing through the roof I had noted after a brief skim of a real estate website on my phone. Unless Tony Stark himself started paying out for damages like he ought to, I just couldn't see how we would dig ourselves out of this hole.

I was getting seriously bummed out by my own company, and, if I knew myself at all, that could only mean bad things for the people around me. I could say the most cruel things when I was stressed. It didn't matter if I didn't mean them, a clever, angry mind always knew how to hit people where it hurt. Cutting that train of thought off, I pulled my hair into a band just to distract myself, and opened the fridge, looking over the things I had purchased, thinking hard. One gas burner, and one shoddy looking pan, and a hodgepodge of groceries. I had worked with worse.

* * *

"I come baring food!" I announced jovially as I pushed my way into the workshop, trying to change my attitude through shear willpower. Fake it 'til you make it, after all. Both my hands carried a plate of steamed vegetables and grilled chicken breast; considering what I had to work with I thought it was rather impressive, and definitely enough to get to the boys' hearts through their stomachs!

Aleks glanced up and scrunched up his face. "Are those vegetables? I do not want any." Or not.

I blinked, swallowed thickly, and plastered the exaggerated smile back on my face. " _Eat the damn food or I swear next time it will be your skinny ass in the pan, dear brother_ ," I replied in my best sickly sweet tone of voice.

"Katja, watch your language, and Aleks, you will eat the nice meal your sister made and you will like it," Atyets scolded the both of us like we were children again, taking one of the plates in his grease-blackened hands. It was just like before I left, when we functioned as a normal family. Well, function and normal were both on short supply, but we had our routine, we loved each other. It seemed that things really only fell apart when _I_ stopped playing _my_ part. It brought back the sadness I had been trying to ignore. And I wasn't good at hiding it, because as Aleks came to take his plate, he stopped and looked at me closely.

"What is wrong, sis?" A sudden look of terror entered his expression. "I was just joking about the veggies, you know! It looks delicious!" He picked up a head of broccoli and threw it into his mouth to prove his words, and his concern made me giggle and blink the trace of wetness in my eyes away.

"I'm fine, really," I reassured him, "I just really missed you guys." At that he brightened again, and pulled me into a one armed hug, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

"We have missed you too. Things will be much better now that you are back home," Aleks replied warmly, while my father smiled at us from the ragged couch against the wall. I opened my mouth to remind him that I was only here on borrowed time, that I would be gone in less than a month, but then I closed it again. For once I didn't want to be the one to ruin the moment.

 _Speaking of ruining the moment_. Realizing the missing factor, I looked around the room, confirming my suspicions, "Where the hell is Ultron?" Aleks moved away from me and looked to the ground, eating his food in silence. I looked at Pa for an answer. He shrugged.

"He needed to go out for something; he did not say what, only that he would be back this evening."

My mind reeled. I wanted to scream, _How does none of this bother you?_ but instead I took a deep breath, and changed the subject. I would _not_ be the one to start the next fight, not when we were slowly making progress. "Never mind. I hope you've got the television working, because I'm going to grab my food, and then I'm spending the next hour watching the crappiest soap on there." With those instructions I returned to the other room and picked up the third plate, now mostly cold. However, instead of heading back out there as I should have, I stared at the moldy butter-yellow paint and listened to my thoughts again.

My family thought that they were holding all the cards. They just didn't seem worried about any of this like they should be. All they saw was the fact that they thought they deserved all the good and Ultron deserved all the bad that would come out of this. Well, the robot probably did deserve it, but that didn't change what was right and what was wrong. Or did it? What _was_ right in a situation like this?

There was one option that kept crawling to the forefront of my mind and then skittering away again. The more realistic part of me I knew that the 'right' thing would be to contact someone who could destroy the killer like they did before. Get in touch with the local authorities. There was more than one problem with that, though; first and foremost, I would be convicting my own family for harboring and assisting an international fugitive- unless I tried to lie to said officials, and something told me that would not work out well for me at all. And after all that, would I be able to sleep at night knowing I sent someone to their death, or worse, experimentation? Hell, I didn't care who they were, I didn't want that kind of baggage. So I'd veto that plan, then realize I was being selfish and irrational, and start the cycle again. It was enough to drive a girl mad.

Something told me that Ultron would be able to turn that into an innuendo. Nothing would surprise me at this point.

A fly buzzing by my ear brought me back to reality and I hurried to take my lunch back to where they were probably already waiting for me. Well, I was right about one thing, I noted as I saw them sitting on the couch and fixated on the banged-up-but-somehow-still-functional television. However, when I sat on the arm rest and saw what was playing on the screen, my requests for the remote died on my tongue.

A red banner near the bottom of the screen showed the bold words: ' **PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: CALL TO RETALIATION'** , and above it, the president. He was halfway through a sentence when I managed to focus on what he was saying.

" _...vulnerable to this act of terrorism. When you create a weapon, and you use it on someone, it is not only one of terrorism, but an act of war. This destruction was American wrought, and their feeble words have not nearly eased our pain and loss. We will not forget that the gun than fired on us was held by those like Tony Stark, a lapdog of the American government. Now we, the Sokovian people, have the duty and the recompense of turning those very weapons on their senders_." There was a pause in his speech, where he gazed coldly into the camera, causing ice to form in my veins. I just knew what was coming next.

" _We have the duty to give all that we have to assist the war effort, including and especially any American technology or weaponry that has been recovered in the aftermath of this tragedy. Therefore we, Sokovia, ask all those able to come forth, and as long as there is ample support, conscription will not become mandatory. Thank you for your support_."

The broadcast finished with a shot of the Sokovian flag, and the little voice over that confirmed it was an approved message from our government. Three things were very clear to me in the silence that followed the announcement, my food well and truly cold and untouched. First, was that my country was going to war with the biggest bullies on the block. Second, they wanted people to hand over any Ultron or SHIELD tech they had found in the rubble to turn into weapons. And, finally- and this was the one that made me feel particularly ill- they were using forced conscription as a threat to coerce us into cooperating. I looked at my father and brother who both wore equally unreadable expressions as they worked it out in their own heads as well. If there was mandatory military service, they would both be on the list. And I doubted anyone on that list would come out alive against the enemy they would be fighting.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Pa? What does this mean for us?"

He turned to me with an expression that tried to be reassuring, and patted my shoulder. "It will all be okay, dear. We will have to give them the robot."

" _What_?" I spluttered, then shook my head and tried to gather myself. "You can't be serious, Atyets. You have seen what Ultron can do! You would just hand over such a dangerous thing to be used as a weapon of war?"

Aleks was doing a much worse job of hiding his anxiety, but he still spoke up, "Yes, we _have_ seen what he can do. Ultron's designs are perfect for an unmanned army. If they build enough, they won't need to force _anyone_ to enlist." The flicker of hope in his words gave away his fears. My baby brother wasn't built for war, and he had already seen far too much of it in his years. Until now he had been able to stay out of the majority of it.

"I know you both have good intentions," I started slowly, watching the dullness of the concrete floor, "but there is no way that this can end well. This will kill us."

My father pursed his lips and scratched his bearded chin with a sigh. It was clear that he was confused by the mixed messages I had been sending since I got here. But was it really my fault, when our situation was so confused and complicated and wrapped up in all these issues of morality? "Katja," he began wearily, "what do you want from me? What can I do here that will not drive you away from us again?"

I blinked and a tear ran down my cheek. I wiped it away with frustration. "Do I look like I know what I want?" I demanded, shutting my eyes against the world. "I wish there was a right answer. I just wish no one had to suffer."

Aleks was more attuned to my feelings than I ever wanted to admit. He murmured, half to himself, "Who is it that you do not want to suffer, really?"

And I knew what he was really asking, even if our Pa did not. I stood, and, like I was accustomed to doing, ran from my problems and hid myself in the bathroom.

* * *

I did not remember falling asleep on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, but when I awoke I could see through the small window that the sun was setting in the sky. For a moment I felt sorry for anyone who had been hoping to use it. I quickly forgot about that, though, when I realized that despite how sorry for myself I was feeling, one piece of this convoluted puzzle had just became much more simple. At least now the authorities were not labeled the 'moral-good-guys'. I no longer had to worry that I was being selfish for not turning Ultron in, because through everything else, I knew that it was wrong to turn the weapon that could have wiped out the entire human race on anyone, from any side. I didn't care if it was the Americans, the Sokovians, or freaking _Greenland_ , I wasn't going to let anyone use Ultron against their fellow humans.

So that just left two options: let Ultron kill us all of his own volition, or destroy him ourselves.

Again, I knew what the 'right' thing to do was, but I couldn't bring myself to admit it, even within my mind, and I didn't know why. Though, to be honest, I was getting my suspicions.

I was hesitant to leave the sanctuary of the restrooms, but when I poked my head out the door, the garage was absent of their presence, anyway. I stepped out, wondering where they were, when someone cleared their throat. I jumped and turned to the source of the sound, finding Ultron was back, once more working on his reactor at the bench. When he saw he had my attention, he pointed to the couch.

Curiously, but warily, I approached it, glancing at the android every few seconds to make sure he wasn't about to attack. On it, there was sitting a piece of paper, a sloppily written note. Obviously my father's, from the lazy handwriting. It wrote; ' _ **Ultron asked us to fetch him something he couldn't get himself. We won't be long, but he shouldn't give you any trouble. He knows we will not help him if he hurts you. With love, Atyets. PS. We will not make any decision without you**_.'

First I shook my head, because despite what they believed, Ultron didn't really _need_ their help at all. Still, it was comforting to know that they finally realized I wanted to be a part of these major decisions. I had to remind myself, though, that their decisions wouldn't even concern me when I went back to school. For some reason it was a sobering thought. However, I had much more important things to worry about for the time being. I needed to be more assertive, for me, and for my family.

Gathering my courage, and knowing that if I died, it really wasn't the end of the world, I strode to the workbench, planting myself opposite the metal mass murderer. First of all I realized that rather than his reactor that I had seen him working on early that morning, he was working on an entirely new core. It was still obviously second hand from another droid, but in much better condition than the one he had been using this whole time. "Where did you get that?" I blurted. Granted, I had wanted to open up a dialogue, but this was not how I had planned it to begin.

He tilted his head to look at me, and I couldn't help but imagine the intricate design of the schematics I had seen last night. "It was mine to begin with, so I can't see why it would matter."

I nodded slowly, seeing his logic, and honestly not wanting to ask questions, "Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. What I do want to know, though," I said, going all in and hoping for a straight royal flush, "is why you haven't killed us all, yet. I know you don't need us."

Ultron chuckled that metallic laugh of his. "Feliks continues to believe so."

I raised a brow. "My Pa is many things, intuitive is not one of them." I was again surprised how easy it was to talk to him with some normality. He was dangerous and he was insanely clever, but those things didn't stop a person from being comfortable to talk to. "And you didn't answer my question."

"They are useful, and not terrible company, why would I kill them just yet? Seems a little backwards," he replied in a carefree tone, always working, never giving me his full attention.

 _So far, so good_. He seemed to realize the benefit to human company, after all. But it raised another sudden question, one that spurted from my mouth in an unexpected bubble of concern."Ultron, have you ever had a friend?"

The change in atmosphere was instant. He put down what he was working on, and slammed his metal hands onto the table, startling me, and leaned over the bench, pinning me with eyes that were nothing at all like my own. "Oh yes," he began, his tone a mix of casual conversation and dark threats, "I had two."

"What happened to them?" I whispered, knowing I had overstepped some boundary, shaking, not wanting to know the answer but asking because I just _needed_ to.

Surprisingly, rather than lash out, as I had expected, the android slouched, and withdrew, picking up the replacement core once more. Just when I had given up on getting an answer, he spoke, so quietly I had to strain to hear. "I killed them."

So many emotions ran through me, fear, horror, anger, helplessness, sadness, pity. My father had never been intuitive, but I liked to believe that I didn't have that lacking. This was why, when presented with the information that a known murderer had killed the only people he would call his friends, the way he said it I just knew that it wasn't the whole story. That wasn't a threat, or a warning, that was a guilty admission. It wasn't that hard to pick.

I was about to press the matter when the door to the garage opened and my family returned, with their loud chatter and obliviousness, and I knew the moment had passed. I looked at the metal man, who now seemed oddly small for someone that towered over me and probably most others. Just when I had thought the puzzle was becoming simpler, things had to become difficult on levels I could hardly even comprehend.

* * *

 **A/N: YES! I finished another chapter! Again, if you're happy to be reading this, you know to thank my lovely reviewers who helped kick me back into gear. You want to be to thank for the next installment? Be the one to review ;)**

 **To avoid confusion, Ultron wasn't saying that he physically killed Wanda, he was referring to what she herself said, that when he (unintentionally) shot Pietro to swiss cheese, she figuratively died too.**

 **Sorry for the mistakes, I try to get them all, but I know I miss heaps! When this is finally finished I'll go through and properly edit it all.**

 **Thanks for reading! Hope to hear from you soon!**


	5. Five

**A/N: Woah, long wait. Sorry guys! There's a novel in my brain that I really REALLY want to write, so I tried to buckle down and just do it. However, I have discovered that winter just isn't a good time of year to jump into early morning writing sessions... So, seeing as that is flopping, I figured I should do a little something with this to keep the writing muscles warm.**

 **Though I will admit, as AOU grows fainter and fainter in my memory, keeping with continuity and character will be harder. When I do get my hands on the movie I will definitely be going through and polishing everything up!**

 **One lucky thing for you guys, though, is that I've learned a lot about writing in the last month. So sorry not sorry, I'm going to use this to practice turning up the conflict (=u=)b Be warned!**

 **Extra long to make up for the wait!**

* * *

The first thing I noticed about my family's return was their attire. Same old coveralls, boots, gloves... balaclavas that they were in the process of pulling off their heads... And as my spirits took a nosedive I reluctantly dragged my attention to the large black duffel bag they were struggling to lug into the shop, though their demeanor was too jovial even by their standards. Steam virtually billowing from my ears, I blocked them from coming any further, hands on my hips, lips pursed. My throat constricted with outrage and apprehension, but I managed to force out the question no naughty child wants to hear from their mother: "And what do you think you're doing?" Yes, I have to parent my father and brother. No, I do not enjoy the concept, but I was getting damn good at it by now. They looked like they could crap their pants when they realized I was getting riled up for another severe lecture.

"Fetching something for me, obviously," Ultron provided when they couldn't speak through their obvious terror. He had clearly gotten over that little emotional outburst from a moment ago and was acting like nothing had happened.

"I _know_ that, Metal Head," I ground out, "I first assumed it would be something like more oil, or at worst a couple more scavenged Ultron corpses. This," I pointed harshly at them, "is ' _obviously_ ' a little more than a _grocery run_. So I'll ask again: what the hell have you done?"

My Pa was beginning to grow red in the face as his own temper was stirring, but Aleks distracted the both of us from another row by unzipping the bag and pouring its contents onto the concrete floor with a resounding clatter. It was a sea of metal. Burnt, twisted, blackened, it looked no different from the scrap metal they already had in heaps around the shop. Confusion was mixing with my anger, which was really mostly worry, and I could also had been premenstrual. I don't know. This was all just as confusing for me. In the end I had to ask. "More metal? Why was that so important?"

Ultron gave that cheesy chuckle that one gives when they were hoping you'd ask that. "Now, really, Katja, would I have these nice fellows break into a military facility just for a bit of metal?"

Whoop, there it was. My eyes widened and I stared at my father with disbelief. _What had they done?_ _ **What had they done**_? Ultron left the new core on the bench and sauntered past me to inspect the pile on the ground. It looked like something was beginning to dawn on my father's face as I continued to gape at them in disappointment. The redness of his cheeks a moment ago faded to the pale white of a sheet as the dots finally began to connect in his mind. He turned to Ultron with a question in his eyes, one that the robot paid no heed to, didn't even notice as he kicked a piece of the scrap lightly. "No," the android continued in a flippant tone, that, despite its apparent calm, plainly gave away the dangerous path this was going down, "though vibranium is quite the fascinating resource, I could easily have gained it myself, and your government would have been none the wiser. Despite their sudden interest in me." _Oh, hell. He knows about the announcement._ I wasn't sure how I could tell, but I could see the tension in his machined shoulders. He was on the edge and we were in some very deep doodoo if he decided to jump off.

"Ultron, I've gotten to know you well enough over the last couple of days to at least know that I'd never be able to pull the wool over your eyes," I said carefully, raising my hands in a gesture I wasn't sure was supposed to be defensive or placating. "You'd be able to tell right away that I wasn't going to let them sell you out. I'm predictable like that."

He whirled on me, his set maw and red back-lighting seeming more intimidating than ever before. I gulped, forcing myself not to step back, not to acknowledge the beads of sweat accumulating on my brow. For a moment I found myself wondering whether it would be more or less terrifying to see the expression on his face. We stood like that, staring each other down for several moments, every second expecting him to finally snap and break my neck. Then, he started laughing, held his sides and bent over like he was experiencing a painful belly laugh at a joke I hadn't heard. Hence I had no choice but to force a nervous grin and watch from my peripheral vision Pa edge towards something behind the bot while he was distracted. Poor Aleks looked terrified as well, but he kept glancing towards the rolling door of the garage.

Slowly the android seemed to compose himself, shaking his head as his cackles subsided. "Well, you're not wrong. You see, Katja," he said while gesturing grandly and approaching me, "I always had a good feeling about you. Well, not always. When I first heard about your arrival I thought I'd have to kill you. I mean, what were the odds of having all three members of the family being so naive as to go along with all my plans and think they were their own? No one's that fortunate." He chuckled again, and this time the metallic twang to it seemed so clear, so _not human_. My hands began to shake and my mouth went dry. This was it, what I had been waiting for all along: the moment Ultron kills us all. I was just as foolish as my Atyets and Aleks to start believing that _just maybe_ he wouldn't. Now we would all pay for my inability to do what had to be done.

 _No, calm down, Katja_ , I told myself sternly. Nothing was ever completely hopeless as long as you retained all the control of the situation you had. _Just keep him talking. He loves the sound of his own voice_. "Okay, then," I choked out, not as smoothly as I would have liked, "what changed your mind?" _Just give Pa enough time to do whatever it is he's doing._

"Well, I was right, of course. You were no where near as foolish as them. I came very, _very_ close, whenever it was clear you where contemplating alerting someone of my existence. As you said, you were easy to read." I wasn't sure if I imagined his optics raking down my body, but it made me self-conscious nonetheless.

"I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about me in past tense," I grumble, folding my arms and taking a step back. He had gotten awfully close during his little rant. "And you didn't exactly answer my question."

"We'll see about what tense you should be spoken of in soon," he commented airily. "Your answer is that I knew you were smart. Not only smart enough to know that I don't need you, but also enough to figure out that _you_ need _me._ "

Okay, he now was definitely leaning over me and it was making me very uncomfortable. I cleared my throat and ignored the heat in my cheeks. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Huh," was all he said, but to my relief he leaned back out of my personal space bubble. "Of course, you have too much misguided loyalty to the human race to just give in, so you would need a little push." He plucked the replacement core off the bench and held it out to me. "This is the one thing I cannot do myself, for obvious reasons." He paused to hold a hand up to where his ear would be and I got the message, trying to hear what he was referring to, but there was nothing but the distant sound of oncoming traffic. Oh no. There wasn't supposed to _be_ any traffic out here for miles. My expression returned to panic as I looked back at the villain in our midst. "Ah, yes, there they are. I was getting tired of keeping up this monologue while they tracked down their missing vibranium. I know Feliks would sell me out without a second thought, but you, Katja, you know you can't fight them without me, and without me running at full capacity. And they did just commit some serious treason. I thi-" Ultron jolted forward a bit and I jumped back, suspecting an attack, but instead he just continued twitching and fell to the ground with a loud _**clang**_ , the lights in his eyes fading.

My head shot up to see Atyets shaking behind the android's prone form, holding some sort of device. " _Atyets, no_!" I shouted as I immediately crouched down beside the, what- unconcious? Dead?- body of Ultron. "Why would you do that?"

"He betrayed us! That blasted machine set it up so that we'd get caught," my Pa roared at me, and I hoped it was just his fear talking. "We have to give him and the Vibranium to them so they don't kill us!"

"No, you idiot! How can you always, _always_ have the wrong end of the stick?" Now I was hyperventilating, wondering what I could do now that I didn't have Ultron giving instructions. I couldn't believe how quickly everything had changed.

"Guys, they are getting very close now," Aleks reminded us anxiously. "We need to get out of here."

I ran both hands through my hair. _Keep control, keep control_. "There's no way we can hide from them for long- they're the _government_ , and we can't let them get their hands on Ultron, no matter what you think, Pa. If Sokovia uses him in this war they want, a _lot_ of people are going to die," I reasoned with them and myself. That damn bot was right. "We need Ultron back online. Help me switch these cores over." Neither of the men moved to help me as I pried the greasy reactor from Ultron's cold metal fingers. " _Now_ , damn it! We don't have much time!"

Aleks was the first to give in, realizing that I was rarely wrong about these things, and together we managed to flip the heavy android body over onto its back. "Okay," he said, and I could hear the fear in his voice, "so what exactly are we doing?"

I held the new core in the palm of my hand and forced my tight throat to swallow. "Ultron knew all along that you guys were happy to trade him for a bit of cash at the first opportunity, that neither of you really cared if he lived or died as long as you had your pockets lined. That much is obvious." I heard Pa snort from where he was hastily shoving the vibranium back into the bag, probably still intent on attempting to trade it and the robot for our freedom, naively thinking that would work. Why trade when they could just take them from our corpses? "This setup is his ultimatum; we bring him back to life, or we face the authorities alone."7

Aleks caught my eye and stared intently. "Do you trust him to help us if we do?"

I wasted a precious second considering the question. "Yes, Aleks, I think I do," I ended up answering resolutely. Though he looked skeptical, clearly wondering why I had changed my tune, he nodded once and his quick, masterful hands took to removing the old, faulty core from the mechanical chest. It was the first time I had seen my brother truly work at his trade in years, and I found it impressing even me. He got the dodgy machinery out in record time and plucked the replacement out of my hands. Of course, installing was a far more fiddly and intricate job than extracting, and I grew more and more nervous with each moment that passed. "Come on, come on, they'll be barging in here any second."

"I'm working as fast as I can, sis," he hissed, not slowing even as he tore the skin of his hand on a sharp protruding edge.

There was the sound of zipping and I looked up to see Pa had bagged up the metal- vibranium? -and he was now pacing anxiously. "You kids have to go. Forget that damned machine! If you stay here who knows what they'll do to you. I will try to reason with them, but you need to go," he urged us uselessly. I felt my temper broil again.

"You're the one who got us into this mess, Atyets, and I don't see you helping us with Ultron- who _you_ fried," I burst out, glaring at him dangerously.

He snapped. "I said forget that damned machine," he roared, grabbing my brother by the shirt and hauling his thin body away from the robot harshly. Damn, the core was nearly in and my mechanic was gone! Car doors slammed outside. It was over. We were out of time and our musclebound bot was still out for the count.

In desperation I looked back to the reactor, feeling like time was moving in slow motion. It was far more complex than anything I had tinkered with as a child, but Aleks had been so close to finishing. There was only one more cord to be reattached. But where did it go to? A glance told me Pa was still trying to manhandle my brother out the back door before they burst in on us. I would receive no help from them.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took a punt and pushed the cord into the first socket that caught my eye, hoping fate would be kind to me for once.

The roller door was suddenly forced open and I looked up to see men in black gear carrying large guns swarming the place. It was a sight that made Ultron seem like a cute little bunny. Feeling my chest grow stone cold from fear of what the future would hold I turned and saw them grab my family and shove them to the ground to restrain them, and them felt similar grips on my own arms, though I wasn't even trying to run so there was no need to tackle me. I felt numb. All of this stress, for nothing. Ultron would be reverse engineered and mass produced, becoming a weapon against mankind once again, only this time without a soul. I doubted they would use the same programming that rebelled against its previous user, instead it was far more likely that he would be reduced to _locate enemy soldier and fire_. No one deserved a life of slavery like that. No one.

As I was pulled towards the outside, where I would probably be pushed into one of the cliched SUVs and taken to a facility where I would be tortured for information I didn't have or wouldn't give, I stared at the concrete floor of the garage that had been my home for less than two nights. The floor which _should_ have had a robot and a bag of vibranium on it.

With my heart skittering I swung my head from side to side, trying to locate the missing elements, seeing them nowhere in the agents' arms. _Could it be?_

 _Ultron, where are you now?_

* * *

The drive to wherever it was they were taking me was long and bumpy as the large car drove over cracks in the road and rubble left over from the disaster. The windows of the back where I sat squished between two bulky soldiers of some kind were tinted so black I couldn't see a thing through them, and all my brain could process was, _I'm going to die soon and no one's going to know or care. I'm going to be reduced to nothing but conspiracy theory fodder._

Of course, I had been separated from Aleks and my father, they having been pushed into their own respective armed escorts, and had absolutely everything confiscated off me that wasn't clothes. No phone, no wallet, no watch, nothing. They had even taken out my earrings, as if I could turn a _gun_ into a weapon, let alone an _earring_. With no way to check the flow of time and companions that just weren't very companionable I couldn't know if I had been in that stuffy ride to my demise for ten minutes or ten hours, though I suspected it was more likely to be around the forty minute mark. A few times I had started counting seconds to pass time and keep myself calm, but honestly I just didn't have the attention span to last much longer than a minute or two before losing count.

At first the only thing on my mind was Ultron, where he could be after that disappearing act, and whether he would actually come through and help us. However, as the minutes passed and my eyes kept flicking to the rifles in my captors' hands my hopes grew dimmer and dimmer. It was clearly time to face reality; if Ultron really had woken up just in time to escape with that oh-so-important metal, the chances of him going out of his way for a few fleshies that had already outlived their usefulness were so slim I felt my cheeks flush for hoping at all.

"You guys have any idea how long we've been driving for? My butt's going numb," I said, trying to get something out of the guards for a third time. There was a sheet of thick black glass between the front and back of the SUV, so I was feeling pretty boxed in and honestly, I was probably already on the edge of insanity with all this fear and stress and worry. The least they could do was humor me with a little conversation to distract me from the things to come.

"Keep quiet," one of them grumbled in return, and I slumped back into the chair. At least the murderbot had a sense of humor.

Well, if they refused to play nice, I wouldn't either. "Where are my family? Where are you taking us? I swear, this is wrong on so many levels and if you don't let me go I'll just start screaming," I told them, clenching my hands into fists.

Apparently sick of me already, the one who had spoken before turned to me and growled, "I told you to be quiet!"

Okay, that was it. I warned them. Taking a deep breath, I harnessed my inner toddler, and let out an ear piercing shriek that lasted until my gasp of pain broke it off for my body to be riddled with spasms at the electricity now coursing through it.

Of course. I should have known they would just taze me.

When the current ceased I panted for a minute, let out a pitiful, "o _w",_ and promptly slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

When I was roused by a swift kick in the ribs I found it extremely disorientating to open my eyes to armed guards in some kind of military face mask-goggle combo. The dingy cell with peeling white paint wasn't really helping at all, either. "Where the hell am I?" I slurred intelligently, but they didn't bother replying as they hauled me to my feet. Their auras of stick-up-the-bum were so deja vu that the events of earlier that night came flooding back. But then, exactly how long had I been unconscious? It was probably the events of yesterday by now. "Aw, hell no. There's no way I'm going anywhere you guys want to take me!"

Strong words, but in the end, no matter how much I dragged my feet and whined along the way, the two buff soldiers just pulled me along like I weighed nothing. It was certainly a punch to the ego. I'm sure they thought I must have been off my rocker for not showing the right level of concern about my situation, but they obviously hadn't figured out that things were much easier to swallow when you cut them down to size. Yeah, sure, I could piss my pants and die from nerves, and I was pretty convinced that whatever laid at the end of this hallway they were taking me down was going to be the literal death of me. I knew all these things, but that didn't mean I wanted to think about them. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction; if I was going down, I was going down sassing.

Up ahead there was a big, heavy looking double door. Unadorned steel, high tech scanner at the lock. It did not look inviting in the least, and I started shaking my head frantically, trying to express just how much I did not want to go in there. Alas, the universe, or at least these two sticks-in-the-mud had no sympathy for my whatsoever. One of them used his free hand to punch in a long code and scan to gain access, and the doors slid aside like parting waters to show an interior that looked partway between an office and interrogation room. Inside there was a large desk with a bald, smiling man sitting at it, and across from him, a metre out of reach of the desk and by extension, him, sat an uncomfortable looking chair with restraints built onto the arms. Great. Looked like my kind of place!

I was brought to the chair and forced to sit down, then restrained like I was some kind of dangerous animal. I hadn't even done anything wrong! Okay, so I had sort of helped a mass murdering robot and downloaded a couple hundred songs, but that was nothing worth all the X-file crap these guys were subjecting me to. I hope the glare I was sending his Baldness was conveying all that.

"Well, good morning miss Dobronravova, I trust you slept well?" The question was so overly polite that I was convinced he knew I had been knocked out by his goons and was just being ironic. Well, two could play at that game.

"Oh, just swell, thank you. The bed in my cell was so comfortable, was it padded with your hair by any chance?"

His smile tensed, but not in an offended way, more like an exasperated 'I'm-surrounded-by-children' kind of thing. "I'm afraid not. Now, miss- may I call you Katja?- do you have any idea who I am?" There was no way I'd forget a face like that. His skin was completely smooth, so much so that I was more than a little jealous, his long nose was hooked, and his lips were thin and a little too red. It would have been impossible for me to guess his age. All these things would be fine if he wasn't wearing that disconcerting grin that showed too-perfect teeth, and staring right through me like I was a ghost, or about to be.

"Hate to hurt your ego, but _I'm afraid not_. And no, you may not call me Katja." I thrust out my chin, hopefully looking defiant while I cowered inside. He gave me the impression that I was as good as dead, anyway, no matter how I acted.

"Well, _Katja_ ," he began, his brown eyes looking soulless- or maybe I was just being dramatic, "my name is Vyacheslav Moskvin, and I work on behalf of our country. Now, it really isn't as dull as it sounds; I get to deal with all manner of strange occurrences. Like, for example, a bunch of nobody mechanics successfully breaking into a government institution and stealing a valuable mineral they should never have even heard of. Stranger than fiction." He said this all in such a honey-sweet and carefree tone that it sent shivers down my spine. I was used to that eerie sort of calm after my few conversations with Ultron- which I now knew were the times he was considering ending my life- but Moskvin was different. Ultron seemed to me to be trying to keep his temper under wraps so as to not start behaving irrationally, this guy seemed to be deriving glee from the fact that he had someone to pick apart. I bet this guy didn't even pretend to care about the greater good of humanity.

"But," he continued with the falsest little chuckle I've ever heard, "it gets even better. We catch these guys, of course, however there's no sign of the stolen property anywhere. And then, we find these." The papers are slammed onto the table in front of me for the second time: the diagrams and schematics Ultron had given us. To my everlasting shame, I had no words. I could only stare at the papers while my inner voice said, quite emphatically, _oh crap_. "Well, the plot thickens," he remarks at my silence with a wry grin. I knew I had the choice to plead innocent and hope they bought it. I could even say it was all my father's fault, that I had no part in any of it. I could lie and plead and cry and manipulate and probably be able to get off scott free, ready to flee back to China and my normal life. And boy, did I miss my normal life.

After staring at the would-be Ultron's face for a very long while, I brought my eyes back up to his beady brown ones. To hell with it, I _wouldn't_ run away again. They were my family, and this was just as much my fight as theirs. I relaxed into the awful chair and put on my game face.

"Actually, this is good news to me, Moskvin. Now I won't have to feel bad for you being caught unawares when our ally comes to get us." Okay, so I sounded pretty confident, but I was one hundred percent bulling it. I knew there was an iceberg's chance in hell the android would come for us, but _he_ didn't, judging by the way Moskvin's adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly.

He composed himself quickly enough, though, maintaining that smile that didn't reach anywhere near his eyes. "Now, Katja, dear, do you really believe that this machine, if it even is operating again- unlikely, that it would have any interest in _rescuing_ you?"

I stared him down and shrugged. "If there's one thing I know about that damned robot, it's that he loves being unpredictable," I leaned forward in my chair, "but it's really admirable that you have the courage to take that risk."

* * *

 **A/N: Whelp, there we go! Hope it didn't feel like I was throwing you guys into the deep end. It was going to happen eventually! It's going to take a bit of a time skip before Ultron makes a reappearance, a few weeks story time, probably. I still feel like this is the most badly thought out, convoluted, OOC little crack-fic, but hey, I enjoy expressing my love for Ultron in this fashion. I'm not gonna force you guys to read it~**

 **But if you do, please leave a review! Constructive ones are the best!**

 **Have a great day, everyone!**


	6. Six

**A/N: Well, for those who care, I'm back in China! Yippee! What this means for you is that I now can watch AOU again. Double Yippee! I'm spending quite a bit of my time watching and rewatching the Ultron scenes to try and get a better hold on his character, but it's not my strong point.**

 **Anyway, I'm just going to keep winding this thing to its climax and close, and then I'll probably go and do a rewrite of the whole thing, polish it up. We've got a lot of action coming up, though! Not to give any spoilers, but... lets just say _there will be two._**

* * *

It had been two months since I last saw Pa, Aleks, or Ultron, and six weeks since my trial, sham that it was. I had gone in knowing that it was merely a formality to lock me up for good without breaking too many human rights laws, and so I felt no more than a twinge of disappointment when the ruling came. It was a lot of years. Lets leave it at that. I'd much rather ignore the injustice of it all.

Every now and again, sometimes every day, sometimes more than a week apart, they would 'interview' me in that blasted room. Still, those pleasant little escorted walks down the corridor to equally pleasant little talks with Baldy VonBaldstein were the highlight of my life at the moment. It meant getting my out of that makeshift cell in the building I was being held, for one thing. For the other, it gave the only hints I had that my family were still alive.

"You need to give us more to work with, Katja, dear," Moskvin was telling me now, as he paced behind his desk with an exasperated expression. "Your family has been extremely cooperative with us, it is only you that refuses." It was this kind of thing that gave me hope, because that was the closest I ever came to finding out they were okay. Still, no matter what they said, it didn't change my attitude. These men were liars, and they had taken us, imprisoned us, threatened us, and I wouldn't bend. I stared dead into his eyes, no longer afraid of this pitiful excuse for a man after so many of these chats.

And he was starting to crack. He stopped his pacing and slammed his fist onto the table three times, causing me to flinch. "Damn it, you stupid girl, do you realize what I am authorized to do to you and your family if you do not comply?"

"Baldy, if you think I give the slightest damn what you threaten me with anymore, you are sorely mistaken," I said, my first words to him since his usual rant started about ten minutes ago.

He scoffed, rolling his brown eyes heavenward. "Still clinging to the hope that the mindless machine and war criminal known as Ultron will come and take you away from this scary place?"

"I've come to realize I don't need him to whether he will or not. I've also come to see your determination to deny his autonomy as hilarious. I'm sure he'll share the joke over your corpse, too."

He breathed through his clenched teeth, sending spittle my way. "Tell us where _it_ is," he said again, emphasizing his refusal to call the robot a he.

"I will not tell you anything about Ultron. I will not do anything to help you in this harebrained war plot. If you guys are stupid enough to pit our tiny people against a world power and the _Avengers_ , you deserve everything coming your way."

Moskvin seemed to calm down suddenly, which made me more wary than his anger. He smirked, and sat himself back down. "I would find your ignorance unbearable otherwise, but since you haven't exactly been kept up to date these last couple of months, I'll pity you. Do you honestly think we are the only people that have been waiting for an excuse to start firing on the Americans? We have allies, large allies. And the Avengers?" he paused to snicker and shake his head. "They are too busy battling each other these days. It is providence that we fight this war. It is _our_ side you should want to be on."

I felt sick. I didn't want to believe it, but it was all very likely, and I wasn't so naive as to dismiss it because I didn't want it to be true. I could think of a lot of places that wanted to take a bite out of the US of A. "You still won't win," I insisted feebly. "You don't have the firepower. No one does."

His smirk broadened, as if I had fallen right where he wanted me, "That, my dear, is where you are wrong, thanks to your father."

If my hands hadn't been restrained, I would have facepalmed so hard at that moment. Instead, I settled for a heavy sigh and two words, "Show me."

* * *

We walked, Moskvin, my usual two armed guards, and I, through an area of the compound that I hadn't seen before. It was the same clinical white and polished steel, but at one point there were windows to the outside, and I looked to the blue sky beyond them longingly until I was pulled past it and it was no longer in view. It must have been far too long since I had seen the outdoors, because the light of the sun had been to bright at first, and then as I blinked I imagined I saw red stars against the blue. It did nothing to lift my spirits, only to make me more upset at my trapping. The trap that was about to get much worse, if Pa had really done what I thought he did.

Eventually Moskvin came to a stop, and I almost ran into him with its suddenness. I probably would have if the guards hadn't been holding my arms in their iron grips. We were standing at a large window, only, rather than to the outside world, it overlooked a huge factory-like space, as big as an aircraft hangar. People in white lab coats and dirty overalls were milling about like ants, and I wondered if one of them was my Atyets, because along the conveyors that looked at first glance like they ought to be assembling cars, were the fresh shells of Ultron sentinels. A shiver of dread ran up my spine, and his Baldness noticed.

"Beautiful, is it not? And it doesn't stop here. Once mister Feliks Dobronravov was on board helping our engineers crack all those lovely schematics we picked up at your place, mass production was simple. Simple enough to share with factories in China, Russia, Egypt, just to name a few." He was speaking like he was merely a tour guide, not part of the budding World War III. "Did you know, that here alone we can churn out thirty-two ready models daily, and worldwide, our side is producing over one thousand each day. Impressive, right?"

"I would lean a little closer to _oppressive_ , than impressive. You're really mass producing the very things that turned against Tony Stark and attacked Sokovia in the first place?"

He snorted, as if I was a fool. I probably was in his eyes. "We are not interested in the dodgy processors and artificial intelligence that ignoramus messed around with. We have, of course, written our own program. We have taken only the best, and improved it."

"Why," I started, trying to ignore the headache that was beginning to form, "why are you telling me all this?" I wished the floor would open up and swallow me, because death would be a far better alternative to watching this. Everything I had feared was coming true before my eyes.

"It was part of Feliks's bargain. We cannot dispose of you, so we may as well make some use of you. Are you convinced yet?"

I shook my head and stepped away from the glass. "No," was all I said, and this time I was put back into my cell a little more roughly than usual.

* * *

Six months. Six months since I had seen my family. Six months since I had last seen the true Ultron. Four months since I had seen the fakes. Four months since I had seen Baldy, not that it was any loss. They had well and truly given up on speaking to me after that day, and sometimes, sitting on my uncomfortable bunk, staring at the wall, I wondered if I should have just given in. Sometimes I wondered whether I should have stayed at school, never returned to this forsaken country of mine. Sokovia used to be my home, now it was my prison, serving up cold beetroot stew day in and day out.

Sometimes, when I was feeling particularly low, I wondered what my life would have been like if my Pa had been the one to get cancer instead. I doubted my mother would have had a hand in the second Ultron army to scourge the human race. These thoughts, however, just made me feel worse, because I shouldn't ever wish death on the father who loved me, and looked after me, even if he did make mistakes. It wasn't that I hated him, I loved him like I always did, I was just so disappointed in what he was doing. And then the second thing- I felt bad for calling those robot reproductions 'Ultrons', because they weren't him. So far I just didn't have another name for them.

But you shouldn't get me started on Ultron. I had well and truly given up on any lingering notion that he would come and bring some pain on these guys that had taken us. There were many emotions that stirred within me now with the name Ultron: resentment, bitterness, betrayal, anger, fear, hurt, longing. Longing for his sorry metal ass to get in here and do some serious damage to that damn cell wall, that is. That lying creep said he would help us. Well, jokes on him, because right now he was getting cloned by humans, to be controlled by humans, in a war by humans, and there was nothing he could do about it, because he couldn't bring himself to get off his lazy ass and-

The explosion sent me flying off the bed in a cloud of rubble, landing with a thud and a wrong-sounding _crack_ from somewhere in my chest. Probably the part that was hurting, but I wasn't a doctor. I rolled under the bed and put my hands over my head as more explosives went off, each one shaking the building like an earthquake, and the only coherent thought my ever helpful brain could conjure was, _What the H-E-Double-Toothpicks was_ _ **that**_ _?_

Soon after the explosions was the sound of gunfire and shouting, and the occasional guttural screams. Who was attacking now? Were the Avengers finally pulling through? Eventually the cacophony in my general area of the building died down, replaced by eerie silence. And then footsteps. One set, light and running, the other, slow and heavy. Coming this way. Was it death or rescue?

Eh, either way, it had to be better than this damn cell.

I started pulling myself out from under the bunk, wincing at every movement, spitting out plaster dust. There was rubble everywhere, and two of the walls were down, one being the wall leading to the hallway, where stood a very familiar figure. One that brought tears of joy to my eyes, and I wasn't even embarrassed. In my haste I staggered to my feet and sprinted across the small room, almost tripping several times in those few steps, and lunged into my brother's embrace. My nose was running, my eyes were leaking, I was covered in dirt and debris, and I was so, so happy to bury my disgusting face in his prison-issue grey coveralls that matched mine.

"It's okay, sis, it's all okay now," he said, sounding choked himself, as he hugged me tighter. I hissed in pain and pulled away, holding my ribs.

"Yeah, no, I love you, but lets not hug until I've had this looked at, okay?" I grunted, and he nodded with that kicked-puppy expression I had missed so much.

"You're right. We need to get out of here."

We started moving, and went to turn the corner when my brain finally caught up with what was happening. "Wait, how exactly did you pull off this whole escape thing, anyway?" And when I looked up, I realized I shouldn't have asked.

"Katja, you look awful."

Ultron.

"Gee, thanks, robutt. You look... taller," I retorted feebly, feeling beyond exhausted all of a sudden. Well, the mystery of where he and that vibrani-whatsit had gone was solved. He had gotten busy upgrading himself while we had all wasted away, apparently. But hey, I wasn't complaining. If I had to choose between greasy, falling apart, zombie Ultron like he was before, and the shiny beefcake Ultron that stood before me now, well, his attitude seemed much easier to deal with when it was coming from that bod. Not that I was shallow, or anything. He smirked at my comment, and it was bizarre to see him do it, after having to 'insert smirk here' with all our conversations before now. Six months ago. Okay, exhaustion gone, now I was angry.

"What the hell, Ultron? We were stuck in here _forever_ , and you never came like you said you would!" I stomped up and shoved him in the chest. Or rather, I tried to. He didn't budge, but he did find my attempt amusing.

"Well, technically I'm here, so I did come, and it wasn't forever. Hence, no promises broken."

"You're insufferable!"

"You know you love me," the android that I had first seen in grainy footage on the news, and then drafted on a makeshift blueprint, now said these words to me and winked, and I began to question whether they had put something extra in that beet stew because this would make much more sense if it was all a juiced up hallucination.

I stood there gaping until Aleks yelled at me to snap out of it and catch up, because we really had to go and they were already down the hallway waiting for me while I zoned out. And so I, grumpy and red in the face, started jogging to where they now stood, holding my ribs gingerly, until something dropped through the ceiling and landing in front of me.

I yelped and scrambled backwards from the large metal shape between me and my escape buddies that were now running back towards me and whatever this attacker proved to be. And slowly the metal shape stood from its crouch. Everyone paused, and looked on in awe and horror, even Ultron, who stared at himself.

They certainly had managed to crack those schematics, because before the three of us stood all seven feet of the prime Ultron form. Another Ultron Prime, that is. Because how could the universe possibly stick me in deeper crap when I had that sassbot in my life? By giving me _two_!

The newcomer robot stared at me with bright orange eyes, though I would have thought it would be more interested in its red-eyed twin. "Who... who are you?" I managed to say after much to long a silence.

And it responded, in a monotone voice that sounded like pennies in a blender. " _ **I... am Infinitus.**_ "

Then it lunged.

* * *

 **A/N: Phew! Is that enough of a cliffhanger for you? Did you see it coming a mile off? I always feel so predictable... Not quite as long as I would have liked to write for you, but I wanted to keep moving, rather than make it perfect.**

 **So far everyone's already in pretty deep doodoo! Thousands upon thousands of human controlled Sentinals, and now a human controlled Prime? Dayum. Things are looking bad for our hero, and we're not even close to the finale!**

 **Anyway, reviews make writing happen harder, better, faster, stronger! So do it! Do it now!**


	7. Seven

**A/N: Well, thank Fairyhaven and Sorceress for this chapter, because I've been so, so busy recently with moving apartments to a totally different part of the city and all the rubbish that goes along with that. Getting their reviews, and everyone else's reviews, really kicked me back into gear. So yaaay, more writing...**

 **...Well, better get started... *groan***

 **PS who can spot all the pop culture references?**

 **Disclaimer: I feel like I should take the time to confirm that this is purely a work of fiction. Any people or events that are familiar with that of any persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and frankly, I'm just not smart enough for something like that to happen on purpose. This is also a fan work for entertainment purposes only, based on characters and films that I do not own any intellectual right to. Only the characters and plot that are unique to this work are my own invention. I will receive no monetary compensation for this, it is only for the enjoyment of myself and those who read it.**

* * *

I rolled to the left to dodge the solid metal fist that impacted the ground where my head had been seconds before, with a sound akin to velociraptor screeches coming from my throat. I was pushing myself to my feet faster than a greyhound chasing a rabbit, the sudden surge of adrenaline making me hyper-alert to the beast as it retracted its hand from the small crater in the concrete and rounded on me to continue its murder plan. I was having none of that crap. Was it too late to change my mind? Because I really, really didn't want to die like this any time soon. Forget these damn murderbots, I wanted to die a normal-ass death like everyone else. A stream of all the most colourful curses I knew in three different languages flowed from my mouth like really bad poetry as I sprinted as fast as my noodle-ish little legs could carry me towards where my brother stood stock still, obviously amid a panic attack.

And then those feeble noodles tripped on explosion debris. Traitors.

My hands flew out to catch myself, scraping several layers of skin off before collapsing and allowing my shoulder and cheekbone to collide with the ground anyway. I gasped, trying to regain the breath that was knocked out of me and let out a keening wail at the pain in my ribs. _Whelp, gold star for effort, Katja, but it's time for you to go_. I made myself look back over my shoulder, not about to pass up on the opportunity for my last moments to be filled with that hell-fire hot silver bod. Too bad for that plan though, because while this Infinitus was in mid-lunge, someone even more appealing came at it from the side, locking his strong mechanical arms around the copycat's middle and sending them both into a toppling wrestle.

I watched, propped up on my elbow, with a slack jaw. They were so equally matched. It seemed like whatever that special stuff Ultron insisted on being remade with was, that the military had used the same or something very similar in Infinitus' makeup. They were both landing some crazy blows on the other, but the damage created seemed minimal. This was good in that our red-eyed ally-ish neutral party didn't look too banged up yet, but he also wasn't making much headway, and I silently egged him on. Wait, why was I choosing _now_ to suddenly become silent? "Hell yeah, Ultron! Show that thing some superior autonomy!"

For a moment, those scarlet-lit optics locked with mine. A moment just long enough for his adversary to land an all-too-solid uppercut on Ultron's chin. I winced. _Okay, being quiet now._

At first the fight had seemed totally even, but now the scales were showing their tip. Ultron's fighting seemed more experienced, creative even, with ducks and twists and kicks and elbows to the neck. However, it was becoming clear that the Infinitus had more power behind it. The machine may have been far more predictable, but it was faster and tankier, and as our buddy-bot started to slow, it didn't seem to miss a beat. It may have been the intense amounts of pain and stress my body was in, but tears welled in my eyes and my stomach roiled. Crap, this was turning into a blood bath and here I was, good for nothing much. I felt hands of the squishy kind grasp me by the shoulders, dragging me backwards away from the fray.

"Aleks, Aleks, we have to _do_ something," I choked, putting my hand on top of his and squeezing it for my own comfort more than his. I didn't want to stop watching the brawl for a second but he put himself between me and them, and forced me to meet his deep black eyes. My baby brother, so similar to our father, wearing an expression that was so concerned for me that it made the salty water collecting in my eyes drip down my dirty cheeks. And it seemed that the tears tracks answered a question he hadn't spoken aloud, because he set his jaw, stood, and approached the bots. My heart dropped like a stone. " _Aleks_!" I screamed, trying to stop him, because, for all my words, there was no way I wanted something to happen to him of all people because of them. I would give up myself and a hundred stinking robots any day for my brother.

My yell alerted at least one of the identical androids that something was happening. Ultron looked away from the clone that had him pinned, to the young man that was putting himself in extreme danger with every step and didn't seem to mind. "Get you and your sister outta here, Aleks," he ground out, urgency in the arrangement of shifting metal plates that made up his face hurting me somewhere deep in my heart.

Infinitus was, apparently, too single minded to pay any attention to anything but its current target. It placed a heavy grip over Ultron's eyes and forehead, pushing his head back into the concrete, holding him still against his struggles while its maw opened to its widest extent, some sort of orange light building in its throat. A mouth laser? Apparently. Both the sassbot and I prepared for the gruesome end of the world's most epic battle ever. Then the light died, and the copybot collapsed forward onto him in a pose right out of some Japanese mech hentai.

"Please proceed into android hell," Aleks said from his place a meter or so away from them, holding the same device I had seen Atyets use on Ultron half a year ago. I blinked for a few long moments, trying to collect myself after that sudden turn of events.

"Dearest brother... why didn't you use that right in the beginning?" I asked through clenched teeth. Finding out that all of that drama could have been avoided was not what I considered a relief.

He did look a little guilty, and immediately tried to hide it behind his back. "Well, there _was_ a reason," he mumbled, shifting from foot to foot. A grunt sounded to the right, and we looked over to see Ultron pushing the impostor's prone form off himself, then heaving himself to his feet. It took only four of his large strides to make it to where we were standing, at which he stuck his hand out pointedly. I wasn't sure what was going on until Aleks begrudgingly placed the device in his metal grip. The android smiled wanly and proceeded to crush it in his fist, sprinkling the pieces on the ground.

"What?" I squeaked, appalled that something so useful had just been wantonly destroyed. There goes any hope of feeling a sense of protection around all these bots that seemed to multiply in my life.

"Hand held, focused EMP rays," the destructo-bot started in that tone that sounded like sunshine and rainbows but really implied doom and rage, "a magnificent piece of ingenuity, years before its time. I really ought to commend your father on it next time I see him." As he spoke he strode past us and proceeded to unleash that anger I had sensed on the wall, making a gaping hole for our escape route, most likely. I was still confused as hell, but Aleks seemed to have been expecting that out of the blue reaction from him.

 _Ah, wait, I get it_. He must have been carrying it in case he needed to use something against Ultron himself at any point, and I guess it makes sense that the robutt wouldn't be too pleased to leave us with the thing that so inconveniently shut him down last time, even if it did just save his life. That was why Aleks was so reluctant to show his cards. Man, that stubborn-ass robot needs to work out his trust issues. I mean, if we can trust _him_ after all he did and meant to do...

Aleks was now latched onto the android in question's left arm, while Ultron extended his right towards me, cutting my realization short. I swallowed thickly and stepped further into the mechanical man's personal space than I ever had while he was online. He kept his luminescent gaze firmly fixed on my dull one as his cold, unyielding arm encircled my waist. Knowing that we were about to take flight and not eager on the thought of falling to my death, I wrapped my arms around his neck, with some difficulty due to his immense height. The first thing I noticed was the extremely faint buzzing sensation wherever my skin touched his metal, and I rationalized that he must have slight electrical currents running over his exterior to supply a sense of touch in place of nerve endings. The android must have found something about my position or puzzled expression humorous, because he smirked down at me and said wryly, "Hold on tight." I heard his repulsers activate.

"Wait," I interrupted, eyes going wide, "what about Atyets?"

And then we were flying.

* * *

For the first twenty minutes of the flight out of there I was so sure that at any moment we would be shot out of the sky. After all that time spent imagining it, true escape seemed an impossible concept. Still, here we were, two siblings clutching a anti-human flying robot for dear life as we flew out and away from a top secret facility in a teeny tiny country that I never thought could cause _this_ much trouble for the human race. At first Ultron's flight pattern was fast, evasive, unpredictable, obviously trying to ensure we were not tracked or pursued, so when he slowed slightly and leveled out in the sky over some farmland, I instinctively let out a sigh of relief, my pain filled body knowing that the worst of the danger must have been over. For now.

"Where are we going?" I asked, voice raised to be heard over the wind and sound of propulsion. I desperately wanted to pull the hair that kept flying into my face out of my mouth, but there was no way I was loosening my grip for a second, especially not while we were racing about thirty stories above the ground.

Ultron looked down at me, and for a moment I had to resist the urge to say, ' _keep your eyes on the road_ ', and remember that, A, he probably had sensors or something to keep him on track, and B, we were flying and there was no road. His odd version of a mouth twisted in a queer fashion, like he was debating whether or not to say what was on his mind. In the end he did. "Well, to be honest, I'm open to suggestions."

" _What_?" I shrieked. "You're the one flying and you don't know where we're going?" His expression immediately returned to the familiar one of irritation.

"If you would prefer, I could just drop you."

"Sis," Aleks interjected and probably saved my skin, "we do not know where is safe and where is not at the moment. And a flying robot carrying a couple of fugitives is not exactly, you know, subtle." He shrugged as much as one can while holding a robot arm with all their might. "Also, we did not expect to actually make it this far."

The robot scoffed in an offended tone. "Speak for yourself, I always knew it would work." He paused before adding, "Give or take a casualty or two."

I exhaled through my nose, and tried to keep the exasperation from my voice when I spoke, lest he make good on his threat of letting go of me. "Whatever. Lets just focus on the now, then. Actually, I've got it! If you think you can fly that far, we can hang in my apartment in Chi- wait, no, I haven't exactly been paying rent for the last six months. Prison, y'know. Forget that idea." It was quite the blow to fully realize that my entire life had taken a terrible nosedive into Sucksville. Bye-bye scholarship, hello life of a wanted criminal. How demoralizing. "Don't you have some kind of evil lair we can chill in, Metalhead?"

"Sorry to debunk your stereotypes, but no. My home was destroyed by the Avengers, too."

I had to roll my eyes. "You mean by _you_ when your stupid annihilation plot literally blew up in your face." It was obvious he didn't appreciate the jab when I felt his grip around my middle loosen just a fraction, just enough to give me a heart attack and make me latch onto his neck and shoulders even tighter. "Okay, okay, I get it! Ix-nay on the ailure-fay. Just don't you _dare_ drop me," I said, my voice muffled from my new spot with my face pressed into the plate of metal that made up the crook between complex neck joints and round shoulders. "I do _not_ want the last sound I ever make to be ' _splat'_ ; I was hoping for something a little more hipster, like ' _Excelsior!_ '"

"Good to see some time in the clink didn't change you, Katja. You still never shut up," the android muttered, though it was tinged with good humor, reassuringly. Aleks, ever the traitor, didn't even hesitate to laugh at the robutt's comment. I lifted my head just enough to send him my best glare. Betrayed by my own flesh and blood for a sarcasm-spewing bucket of bolts. Harsh.

And then my ears caught something even more worrying than laughter at my expense. I strained to hear more clearly, shushing them. There it was, amid the sound of Ultron's thrusters: shoooooo-oo-um-putt-putt-shoooom-putt. With each hiccup, I now noticed the ever slight faltering in the smoothness of our flight. "Ultron?" I asked hesitantly, becoming very, very concerned for the stability of my makeshift private jet-slash-villainous robo-buddy.

"It's nothing," he insisted, but I wasn't buying anything from that shady lookin' store.

"It ain't ' _nothing_ ' enough for _me_. Take us down. We'll just make do for tonight. I need to lick my wounds, anyway," I said, surveying the setting sun that I ought to have been appreciating more, seeing as it was the first one I'd seen in months, but sadly I was too distracted by the inconvenient severity of our situation. Aleks agreed with me that it would be a good idea to set up camp now, like he knew was best to do when I was in a mood and he was already on thin ice.

He sighed, like only that lung-less metal chassis can, and nodded his consent. "Fine. We'll head for that old barn there. We should have covered enough ground that those military dogs have lost our scent for now."

True to his word we were within minutes lowering to the ground outside the barn's half fallen down, half termite infested doors. I could almost find it funny that out of the abandoned mechanic's and my cell, this was still the worst place I had been subjected to living in since getting on that doomed flight to Sokovia. Almost. Instead, as I detached myself from the robot's body and wiped my sweaty hands on my coveralls, I just found life really unfair. "Honestly, Ultron? _Honestly_? You expect me to sleep in _there_?"

"No, of course not," the android assured me as he pushed aside a door, "I expect you to toss and turn all night, jumping at every suspicious sound."

"Oh, ha ha. You're a comedic genius," I deadpanned. There we go. See? I could do sarcasm, too. And I could sigh, as well. Look, there I go, _sigh_. Okay, so the robot was still cooler at sighing than me, but we can't win 'em all. During my inner monologue and competition I watched Aleks and Ultron pull one side of the double doors off its hinges and toss it aside. Or, rather, Ultron did the real heavy lifting and my brother pointed occasionally to make it seem like he was contributing something worthwhile. I just snickered to myself and followed them through the new entryway. Inside was dark as death and smelled like dust, moldy hay, and rodents. I scrunched my nose up and commented helpfully, "I hope you both realize that I am not, and never will be a country girl. I'm about as city slicker as they come, and me no likey the whole concept of going au natural." Both men or almost-men turned to look at me with quizzical expressions. "What?"

"Do you even understand the words that leave your mouth sometimes?" Ultron questioned me with a tone that was equal parts exasperation and amusement, head tilted to the side as he examined me.

I suddenly felt really self conscious and crossed my arms as my ears burned. "What? What did I say?" Shoot, I was always accidentally saying things that turned out to be innuendos. I just couldn't keep up with every innovation of Modern Dirty Mouth, and it ended up backfiring and making me humiliate myself on multiple occasions.

"Naked, sis. It means going naked," Aleks blurted, obviously very uncomfortable with turn of conversation but unwilling to let Ultron drag it on any further.

I shrugged, relieved it was something as petty as that. Geez, boys were so trivial. "Well, if that's all. What was the big fuss about? I could've said something _way_ worse if I'd actually been trying. Really, don't tempt me."

At this point Aleks, a twenty one year old man himself, clamped his hands over his ears and started humming really loudly as he made a point of walking as far away from us without actually leaving the barn, and in turn, we had to laugh at his reaction. Together. Sharing a laugh. I cut myself off suddenly and looked at the large robot, who was now quieting down himself, wondering why I fell silent so abruptly. I shook my head, not having an answer for any question there might have been bugging around in his computers. Instead I looked up, seeing the sunset sky peering through several large holes in the sheet metal roof. "We can probably start a fire in here without dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. What season is it at the moment? Ah, never mind, the nights are _always_ cold here," I said, trying not to have a breakdown at the mere thought of our situation.

"You never cease to complain, do you?" the resident piece of shiny ass commented, giving me a sideways glance as he walked over to retrieve some large pieces of discarded wood that seemed to have been originally part of the structure that I desperately hoped kept its integrity while it was above our heads. I shrugged in answer as I watched him drag a beam over and then break it into more manageable pieces.

"I don't complain in my sleep."

"I cherish every moment of silence."

"And I cherish your shiny, metal ass, every time your personality doesn't ruin the mood."

His head whipped towards me so fast I felt like his gears should have split in two, but the look on his face was priceless, as was the fact the chunk of firewood that had been in his hand now slipped to the ground in his distraction. I just stared back with an easy grin, knowing I had won this round when he shook his head in wonderment and went back to the task at hand. I don't know when I had become quite so bold, but I guess I had faced some pretty hardcore stuff recently and was still here to tell the tale. Speaking of which...

While Ultron was so determinedly focused on setting up that campfire I unzipped the top of my coveralls and slipped the left sleeve off, trying to inspect the nasty looking bruise that was forming under my bra and turning the skin over my ribs purple. I couldn't really see much of it even contorting my body as far as I possibly could before angering the wound. Therefore, poking it seemed a good idea. _Ow, ow, ow, crap, definitely not a good idea_. Frowning, I pulled that sleeve back on and pushed down the other one just enough to look at the shoulder I had landed on. Nope, that doesn't look pretty either. I hadn't the faintest idea if I had actually broken anything or not, but I figured it would hurt a hell of a lot worse if it was anything life threatening. Hence, I zipped myself back up looked up.

Ultron, I noticed, had at some point stopped working on his pile of wood, and instead must have found my injury probing more interesting. I pulled a face, unhappy that he had stolen a peak, if just very, very slightly flattered. "You should have taken a picture," I drawled, "it would have lasted longer."

He smirked and raised those funny metal eyebrows of his. "Oh, don't worry, I did," he told me jovially, and my jaw dropped.

"This is one of your jokes, right, robutt? _Right_?" But, alas, no answer. "Jackass." Oh well, whatever. He was probably kidding, and if he wasn't... Well, I would figure out an appropriate threat later. Meanwhile, he raised a long mechanical finger to point at the pile of wood and shoot out a short spurt of laser. Sure, it got the fire burning but it sure didn't make me feel much more comfortable around him now that I knew he could do that. I had to admit though, even with his new size, bulk, and power, I was less intimidated by him than ever before. It was clear something in the air had changed, though when it had started, I wasn't sure.

"Oh man, you are always two steps ahead of me," the voice of my brother interrupted any conversations internal or external that were going on. He was wearing an expression of disappointment and irritation, probably due to the fact he had just carried an armful of wood and hay over here just to see that we already been there and done that. I shrugged and giggled at him oh-so-very helpfully, to which he returned to favor by sending me a look and rolling his eyes before he dumped his pile of carefully collected kindling and firewood where we would be able to get to it whence the flame began to die down. He plopped himself down on the ground with a tired sigh, watching the orange dancing lights with a thousand-yard stare.

It was like seeing his exhaustion made me realize the extent of my own, and so I quickly followed suit in the whole 'sitting down' trend, finding my own spot around the fire, but for me it was that kind of fatigue that had your whole body and mind twitching, on hyper-alert, most likely from stress. I mean, I had a _lot_ of stress. "Why did we just leave Atyets there?" I questioned, seemingly out of the blue. Truly, I had been trying to bring it up since we had taken off from that awful place, but now was the only time quiet enough to hope for an answer. I worried for him so much, my big teddy bear of a father, and his motor oil stained hands. After that stunt we just pulled, which felt like a lifetime ago but was really closer to a mere hour, what exactly would they do to him? I could only hope that he was too valuable, and that they wouldn't punish _him_ for _our_ actions.

The boys glanced sideways at each other, silently deciding what to tell me. I was definitely confused and curious about all this strange and sudden camaraderie uniting them, seeing as I hadn't seen much of it at all back at the garage. Honestly, I was more than a little annoyed that whatever was going on between them, I was being left out of the loop. "Well," Aleks started rather hesitantly, "it was Pa's decision. He told me that he would rather not get us into any more trouble than we were already in, did not want any part in what we were scheming. I don't think he actually believed that Ultron really would do his part and help us get out."

I exhaled heavily through my nose. "Figures he would pick _now_ to suddenly become the mature one. Doesn't matter though, we still have to go get him. It's not like we can just _abandon_ him." My words were met with silence. "No way, you guys weren't actually considering just _leaving him there_? Who cares what he said; Atyets says all kinds of crazy things, and we've never held him to it before! What about the time he was utterly set on launching his own satellite into space? He went on about his plans for weeks, and when he eventually worked out what we had known all along, that it just wasn't gonna happen, did we bring it up after he suddenly went quiet on the whole thing?"

Aleks made a noise at the back of his throat and chewed on his lip, and reluctantly gave me the answer, "No, we did not. But this is different. Do you really think we will be able to break in again? They know what to expect now. We got lucky this time, and as it was we barely escaped."

"Katja, going back there is suicide," Ultron confirmed, and while he had remained standing before, now he chose to sit with us. " _Aleks_ ," at the mention of his name my brother seemed to shrink in on himself, "stupidly gave them my design's weakness on a silver platter. The EMP. You know what else they have?"

I saw where the robot was going with this and I cringed. "The creator of the EMP that brought it down. Crap. They could force Pa to fix them so that the same thing doesn't happen again."

He nodded. "They probably already have. I doubt these warmongering humans have any problems telling Feliks whatever lies they need to make him dance."

I put my head in my hands and let out a loud groan. What on Earth did I ever do to deserve getting mixed up in all this? "Well, at least I don't feel so bad about you destroying it, now- though it was still super immature of you. What I'm not getting is how you guys even... did all this. Was I the only one locked in a cell with no contact to the outside world?" I kept glancing between them, trying to wrap my head around the fact that their lives were not completely hinged on mine. I felt a little miffed, actually. Since when was I not the center of the universe?

Aleks shrugged, held his cold hands closer to the fire, and replied, "Actually, you did have every opportunity to get out of that cell and join Atyets and I on the research team. All you had to do was tell them what they wanted to hear."

"They were questioning me about Metal Head here, and unlike you, apparently, I don't just sell people out. But that doesn't answer my question."

"It was all very simple," the robot then jumped in, a purr to his metallic voice that suggested he was pleased with something. "We managed to set up a port for communication early on."

"You do not spend your whole life around computers and machines with out learning a thing or two about hacking, sis."

"A thing or two? Okay, I'm pretty sure that was a Top Secret military base, but okay."

Aleks gave me a modest half-smile, not offering any more on it. "Everything had to be planned, down to the timing of our meals, that is why it took so long. Ultron mapped the outside and, in particular, found where you were being kept, and I did what I could on the inside." After he said this he reflected on something for a moment and became sheepish, "Actually, the Infinitus should not have been sent after us at all, according to plan. It was still barely in the testing stages." He sighed and ran a hand through his thick, dark hair, staring into the licking flames. "I wonder if I could have missed something."

I shook my head, not wanting him to over think everything like he was so accustomed to doing. "No, it was just a case of one of the guys in charge there, the bald, creepy one, he's a total case. I'd be willing to bet a hell of a lot that it was him that sent the damn copy after us if it was only in the testing phase, and trust me, there's no way to predict what that nut job will do." Something in there must have been reassuring, because he sent a weak grin to me in thanks.

"Ah, yes," Ultron began, "Vyacheslav Moskvin. He frequently advises the Sokovian President in military matters. Probably the one behind this whole thing."

"You know him?" I asked, wondering how that would work.

"No, my contacts do. Oh, and yeah, I also know how to use the Google on your laptop."

Dread settled in my stomach. "You found my laptop? I thought they would have confiscated my luggage when they got us. Please tell me you didn't break it. Honestly, if you've hurt it, I will just kill you."

The android rolled his bright red eyes at my priorities. "Your computer is _fine_. Stay focused on the matter at hand."

"Whatever, don't lecture me. Anyway, Moskvin is dead terrified of you. Probably a little less so now that their own little robotic toy knocked you down a few pegs."

He made a noise like a metal grinding infused snort, not enjoying my commentary on today's less than successful points. "He'll be even more scared now if he knows what's good for him."

"I doubt it, the guy's picking a fight with the Avenger's home base, after all." As soon as the words left my mouth I noticed too late my brother making 'cease' motions across his neck out of Ultron's view. Of course, everything that wasn't me was out of his view right now, with that narrow glare he was leveling on me. I didn't care, it's not like he could drop me anymore, and I was sick of being expected to tread on eggshells around him. I was sick of a lot of things. "What? You're such a big baby sore loser you can't even bear the mention of their name? Grow up, Ultron."

At first I thought he would laser me then and there, in fact, I was getting ready to shout 'Excelsior'. But, to my everlasting shock, after minutes of silence and tension as we held an unspoken staring contest, he shrugged, and nodding. "Eh, you're probably right." I blinked trying to process the fact that he had just backed down and admitted to my being right and his being wrong. Who was this and what had they done with my robot? "That is, you're right that I need to move past the unfortunate complications during my first attempt at change. The Avengers will finish killing each other for me soon enough, anyway." Aaaand there he was. I rolled my eyes but chose to let it go for now.

I gingerly touched my cheek, wincing at the sting. True, none of us came out completely unscathed; Aleks was sporting a split lip and favoring his left leg, and Ultron, well, he wasn't black, blue, and bleeding like the rest of use more fleshy creatures, but his tussle with the Infinitus had certainly left him scuffed and ever-so-slightly dented in places. And then there was spluttering of his propulsion systems and the struggle he ended up in during the fight. In the end, he was still running off a secondhand reactor, better than the first one Pa and Aleks had fitted him with, but not new and perfect like that of the copybot.

Aleks noticed my grimace. "Are you okay, sis? That looks nasty."

"Eh, it's just a bruise. I'll be fine when all this is over." I grew further somber at a thought. "Actually, when this is over, we'll be in the middle of the most destructive war in history. I don't think many people anywhere will be fine." Every one was quiet for a minute, and I almost wanted to congratulate myself for ruining the already fairly sour mood so effectively. Well, I doubted Ultron actually cared what trouble we people got ourselves into, to him it probably just proved whatever point he thought he had, but he kept it to himself for the moment, and I appreciated that.

Eventually, it was my brother that broke the silence, with a heavy heave of a sigh. "If there is so much to look forward to, I guess a good night's sleep is the best protection I can ask for." He brought his weary, aged gaze up to mine, and I returned it with sympathy. "You should get some rest, too, sis. I know how you like to worry all night; this time, do not. You will need all of your strength." He pushed himself to his feet and limped away, finding a quiet, mostly intact corner and laying himself down. I doubted it would take him long to nod off, he was always lucky like that. He also didn't seem to care about the awkward positions he tended to force me into.

I glanced sideways at the android who for some reason hadn't ditched us yet, but he seemed engrossed in his thoughts, whatever they were, as he stared off into space. Seeing as, despite my brother's urging, I knew it would be hopeless to go to sleep in this state of mind, and pained body, and how I had deduced Ultron stayed a constant vigil during the night, being a robot and all, I just knew this tension in the air was going to kill me. I had so much I was bursting to say to him, but every time I opened my big mouth, nothing but snark and provocations came out. It was basically the entirety of my social skills in a nutshell, really.

After not as long as I would have liked to brag, I cracked, and broke the silence with a oh-so dignified grunt. "I, uh, did want to thank you, y'know, for coming through and busting us outta there. Even if it took you forever," I said, shifting uncomfortably. _Eh, that'll have to do. That's about as smooth as I ever get._ When he didn't respond further than turning his head slightly to look at me, I kept talking. "You didn't have to, in fact, I was pretty convinced you wouldn't. Seemed like a pretty generous thing to do. To be honest, I don't even know why on Earth you did."

Again, a pregnant pause, where he did nothing but stop even looking at me, turning back to the apparently fascinating fire. It made embarrassment burn within me, as the chrome android was obviously completely uninterested in anything I had to say at the end of the day. I was getting ready to stand up and leave, to sleep, or at least try to, just to get away from the situation.

"You know," he started suddenly, his voice low, and I halted any idea of standing, "I've thought a lot about where I went wrong. I can't understand it, after all this time. Always this question plays through my mind." Here he paused, and I found myself leaning forward in my interest. What was I about to hear? Something terrible? Something that would give me hope? I didn't know, and the curiosity was about to make me explode. "What would I change?"

"And? What _would_ you change, Ultron?"

He brought his red-lit optics back to me. "I would have kept them with me. My friends. Would have made them understand, to fight with me- no, actually, I wouldn't need them to fight _or_ understand, I just would've kept them safe. You and Aleks are fortunate enough to remind me of them." He thought for a moment than chuckled, shaking his head. "Which is funny, because by all accounts you are nothing alike."

I mulled this over, and wondered what was appropriate to say at a time like this. "Y'know, you big bucket of bolts, I know you made it very clear that core of yours ain't a heart, but I think you've got one in there somewhere. Actually, I know so. You still scare the crap out of me, but today, when, for a teeny, tiny second, it looked like things weren't going so good for ya, you told me and Aleks to run. You..." I searched for the word, "...impressed me."

"Sometimes you impress me, too. Not an easy feat." I noticed that he seemed to have leaned a little closer as some point, too, and a jolt of panic shot through me, wondering if we were having a moment. "You know, Katja," he began in an even lower voice, all drawn out and rumbly and quite frankly, thrilling. Slowly he reached a hand out towards my face, and my inner sirens blared. _Mayday, mayday, coming in hot! Contact imminent!_ I was stiff as a board, dreading the coming touch, but when his cold, metal fingers met my cheek I flinched and hissed for a different reason. "You should really let me check your injuries."

I frowned, and protected my bruised jaw with my hand to fend off further attacks. "Is this your way of getting me out of my clothes?"

"It would be a win-win, yes," he retorted, his grin showing those funny metal teeth of his. "But, in all seriousness, my pressure sensors are much more perceptive that your sense of touch, and I need to know if you'll just be a corpse I'll have to deal with in a week."

I scrunched up my face, not enjoying that mental picture. "Well, when you put it like _that_..." So, again, I pulled on the zip down my front, hot blood rushing to my face. I tried to remind myself that this was all objective, that it was for purely practical reasons, but a part of me refused to believe it. I hate that part. Next were the sleeves, until I was just a squidgy tummy and plain beige bra from the hips up.

He seemed focused enough on what we were here for, peering closely at the large patch of discoloration. I had to suppress the urge to shiver when he lightly ran his fingers over the affected ribs, but then he applied more pressure, and the pain shooed away any ridiculous notions like that quite effectively. "Ow, ow ow ow. Watch it, Metal Head."

"You don't seem to have broken anything. You might have a slight fracture, but nothing likely to kill you," he said, totally ignoring my complaints. The broad android had a quick look at my shoulder, and got me to raise my arm, but it, too, got his tick of approval. He wasn't exactly a doctor I would usually trust, but I couldn't think of many hospitals that wouldn't result in the returning of me to prison, so his opinion would have to do. I quickly pulled the top of the coveralls back on.

I was finally starting to feel like sleep might be an option when his metallic voice interrupted my plans once more. "Katja," he said, but then stopped, pursing his solid lips as much as he could.

"Yes, Robutt?" I encouraged, my stomach choosing now to do a little belly flop, pun intended.

The robot, my strange, sentient, robot pal, locked eyes with me, and said the words that caused my heart to stop and soar all at the same time.

"I promise we're going to get your father back. Tomorrow."

* * *

 **A/N: Phew! What a doozy! This chapter ended up being two times longer than what I expected it to be, and by far the longest of the series so far. Hopefully you guys think that's a good thing! Heaps of dialogue and action happened, but there's a lot more to come. Next chapter we go on a suicide mission to get Feliks back, and something big happens. I won't say what, but you're more than welcome to guess!**

 **Also, for all you robot lovers, my dear, dear friend Weaponofmasscreationn has an Avengers fanfic called Wonderwall. Not only does it have a fantastic plot and OC, that OC is one of the best android characters I've had the pleasure of reading. If all you guys read and support it, you might kick her hard enough that she updates for me ;)**

 **Also, if you haven't read BabyBaby by a sorceress girl in the Ultron archive, you're an idiot. A bloody idiot. Yes, I see you there. Now go read those fanfics!**

 **But review first, please :D**


	8. Eight

**A/N: Well, we get closer and closer to the climax with every word. This chapter is probably plot point three, for those you that are familiar with that outline type. I'm actually almost EXCITED to write the next two chapters especially! I want to take a minute and thank those who have mentioned that this story's gotten better each chapter, because knowing that I'm actually improving in my writing skills is really important to me. Rest assured that when this story is finished, I will go back and use those new-found skills to hopefully bring the entire story into a better standard. Also, if you've noticed the new inclusion of Vision and Wanda in the story info, they're coming up next chapter.**

 **You know what? I actually think that not many of you figured out what I'm about to pull! HAHAHAHAAA! Get your tissues, folks. Actually, nah, you probably wont care that much Don't worry about it.**

* * *

I had been beyond the definition of jittery all day so far, and the night before. Lucky me got to be the one to tell Aleks that morning that we had decided to risk going in for Pa. "I mean, really, Aleks, how could we not? He's our ateyts."

"And I sincerely doubt he would want us to kill ourselves while trying to give him a freedom he does not want," my brother replied, wringing his fingers as he paced, still limping and probably trying to ease the muscle back into use. That big brain of his was still trying to fathom the danger we were imposing upon him. While he was much closer to our father than I was, he wasn't a fighter in any sense of the word and definitely seemed apprehensive about our odds of success, but hey, if the walking computer thought we could pull it off, that was good enough for me.

I sighed condescendingly. "Ultron, would you please enlighten my brother on how great our chances of glorious victory and general badassery are?"

"Dismal. At best."

I turned to toss a glare at the sentient pile of scrap metal. "Gee, thanks for providing such a united front, Metal Head. This was your idea in the first place."

When Aleks shot an accusing look at him Ultron raised both hands in defense and then pointed back at me. "She seduced me into it."

My jaw dropped. " _What_? You- you..." Now Aleks' accusing look turned on me with an aftertaste of disgust, but funnily enough, no surprise. "Oh, come on. You know he's making it all up. All we did was talk."

"Talking was all that was needed," the android said in a mock-wistful tone, earning a generous eye-roll from me and barf motions from my brother.

"Go grease yourself, Ultron."

* * *

Of course, after that came hours upon hours of planning, only broken by my occasional and completely necessary complaints about hunger, boredom, or discomfort. Nervous energy and preemptive adrenaline were turning my usual already incorrigible self into a hell raising little brat. Hopefully I could channel all that and just annoy the guards to death. Yeah, that would definitely work.

Things got a little better when, ever the gentleman, Ultron flew off and then some time later returned toting my precious child- my laptop. After going through every single important file, the time during which I wasn't being much help with the tactics, but at least I was quiet, I deemed it not tampered with and unharmed. Good news for that bucket of bolts.

I hadn't forgotten those ominous words from my last chat with Baldy, specifically, about the Avengers being too busy fighting each other to worry about the war brewing in secret over here, and when I added Ultron's throwaway comment about them killing themselves for him, it seemed very much like a Bad Thing. A Bad Thing that I desperately wanted the internet's opinion on, but alas, apparently old abandoned barns didn't have free wifi. Who'da thunk it?

With a sigh I closed the lid of it, conscious of conserving its limited battery, and approached the arguing geniuses in the room.

"We can not do this so soon, we need to regroup."

Ultron raised a mechanical eyebrow. "That's exactly what they'll _expect_ us to do. The longer we wait, the stronger they'll become. We won't get another chance."

"And if we take this chance fail, they will certainly kill us _and_ Atyets!" This roundabout argument had been enduring all day, and Aleks, while he had helped in the planning of the rescue, never ceased to be vocal about his feelings on the matter. It was time to step in.

I grabbed his ear and yanked to his yelp. "Listen up, _little brother_. While Pa's not here I'm in charge. I don't care if the stars themselves spell " _don't do it_ " in the sky, we're going to save our atyets, or we're gonna die trying." I released his ear, which he straight away rubbed with a pout. "So shut the hell up. Clear?"

He muttered something along the lines of a yes, and that was good enough for me. I turned to the robot. "So, what do we have so far, General Sassy-ass?"

"Well, Katja, I'm glad you asked," he began, slinging a heavy vibranium arm over my shoulders which I immediately removed with an eye roll, "it will be much the same as when we went to get you and your whiny brother out. Except this time, they know what we're capable of, and we can safely assume that they're already preparing in case we try to extract Feliks. We have to get us in and him _out_ tonight before they can get _too_ well prepared."

He paused, rubbing a metal hand over an equally metal jaw, a distracted look in his eyes. "There is also the matter of that ridiculous pretender, the machine. From what Aleks has told me, if it is functional, the armada of my stolen designs likely will be, as well."

"That stands to reason, yes," Aleks confirmed. "They kept their work on any changes to the program pretty locked up, but it was clear that the Infinitus was designed to be a remote mobile server, the brain so to speak. All the drones were just its fingers, extensions of that main control."

I deciphered what he was saying for a minute before saying, "So... like Dave."

Aleks looked at me confused, wondering what I was on about, but Ultron pointed at me and nodded. "Exactly," he said.

"What? Who is Dave? Sorry, but I am lost."

"You know," I started to explain for him, " _Dave_ , out of Catch That Rabbit by Asimov. The robot whose processes got all mixed up because his 'finger' drones took too much of his brain space."

I could see on my brother's face when the penny dropped. "Oh, of course. In the end after they destroyed one of the drones under his control he was fine. Of course, Dave had much more independent autonomy that Infinitus does. Its program is basic in terms of super intelligent computers. It has a team of five human controllers back at the base to give it orders, and the rest is simple protocols. I do not know much more than that."

"Do you know how many of these drones are at the base currently?" I asked warily. We knew, but probably wouldn't mention aloud, that Ultron couldn't handle the Infintus further than keeping it occupied for a while, and a swarm of its underlings was just something I did not want to deal with.

My brother pursed his lips, so Ultron answered for him. "They capped off Sokovian production at the five and a half thousand mark, but from the intel I could gather the last few months, most have been shipped to other strategic locations for storage."

"I estimated that this facility still holds," Aleks paused, like stalling the words would make it any less real. "It holds at least three hundred drones."

I sucked a breath through my teeth. "Crap. We'll just have to be fast and hope that they don't sic 'em on us."

"Thanks for that input, Captain Obvious," the idiot android just had to add when we were all having a successful serious conversation. I sent him a look.

"You know, I'm sure that if I tried _really_ _hard_ I could manage to call the Avengers and deal with _all_ my problems. Just remember that, Metal Head. Everyone knows Tony Stark's Malibu address since he shouted it to the world," I threatened.

His red eyes narrowed at me with warning. "Oh yeah? Why don't you just _try_ crying to that hypocrite."

"Don't tempt me," I bit out. After a couple of beats, though, I wondered why we had suddenly started arguing again. Hadn't we been sorta on the same team a few moments ago? I chewed on my lip, almost regretting my uncanny ability to ruin the mood. But hey, he was just as bad. I hadn't forgotten what he did, that this whole situation was all his fault.

All was quiet for a long time while we tried to figure out what kind of words situations like this demanded. In the end, it was my big mouth that broke the silence. "Five thousand robotic soldiers just in Sokovia. I can only assume that their allies far, _far_ outnumber that figure. Who knows how many there are between them." My voice was low and solemn, for once, as we all stood there like depressed and anxious corners of a triangle, and I met Ultron's gaze. "Well, looks like you win, in the end. Thanks to you our world is gonna end, whether it's by your hand or not."

He turned away. "The sun is setting now. If you want my help in getting your father back, we should probably start moving."

* * *

Tensions ran high the whole flight back to that hellhole I had spent way too much time at during the last half a year. As if the situation wasn't stressful enough already, I had to go and endanger our fragile alliance with the only thing that gave us half a chance to be able to pull this off. It was hard when you knew despite how much you wanted and needed to trust someone, you just couldn't. It was wrong that I should have to remind myself that this was a rogue, terrifyingly clever robot who had actually killed people and tried to drop a makeshift meteor on the planet. The problem was that I hadn't seen any of that in the brief and strange acquaintance with the android.

So, I guess the real question was whether should I trust my own experiences, or those of others.

Rather than dive straight into the fray the flying robot landed us in the heavy treeline that surrounded the secret base. It was well and truly dark out now, none of us had weapons beyond whatever lasers Ultron was packing, and while these military issue grey coveralls were pretty good for this kind of thing they weren't gonna stop a bullet. Yep, I was feeling pretty optimistic about the whole thing. Definitely.

"Atyets is being held where I was, in the barracks near the assembly line," Aleks informed me in a whisper, peering through the dense foliage to the brightly lit buildings. The night would cover our approach, but ever since the invention of the electric light, well, it didn't mean diddly-squat when we were inside. "That also means that the drones will not take long to get to us once they are activated."

Nodding at this information, I bit my chapped lip and turned to my walking can opener, knowing I needed desperately to smooth things over before we went into battle together. "How's the dodgy reactor faring, Robutt?" It was something about as crass and blasé as I'd ever say, but I tried to keep the tone less inflammatory than usual and lightly patted the left side of his metal chest. He didn't take his eyes off the building of our target, but he did catch my hand and hold it there for a moment. It was, I dunno, kinda gentle and rubbish, and I guess it meant that he understood and accepted my weird request for a truce.

"I'll tell you when this is over," he answered my question, then released my hand.

"Then you better make sure you make it out alive to have that conversation, okay?" This time he did spare me a moment for a glance.

"You too."

There was a load groan from the party I had briefly forgotten the presence of. "Really, you two are gross."

I whacked him over the back of the head lightly for embarrassing me. "Shut up, Aleks."

"If you're quite done we need to get moving. _Now_." And that 'now' wasn't an overstatement, because the robot really did immediately leap into the air and fire his repulsers, destroying the barbed fence, rocketing towards the building and blowing a hole in it's side. Aleks took that as his cue and started sprinting to the entry he made, so I followed suit and ran like a bat outta hell with him.

"Ultron will keep them occupied as long as he can, and we will have to get Atyets," he said between sucked breaths, and I shouted a confirmation back at him. The subtle approach was never really an option, anyway. We just had to be fast if we wanted even the slightest chance of getting out of here with our lives intact.

Alarms blared, and we could hear gunshots in the distance, but the hallways that Aleks led us down all seemed to be deserted. I did worry about the robot who was literally acting as Guard Bait, but I figured he could take a lot more than we could and still walk away, so I refused to let it distract me from my part of the job. We turned another corner in the white-walled, clinical hallways that all look the same. Honestly, I had no idea how my brother could remember his way around in here.

"This way," he called as he sped up, "we are almost there!"

My breath was in too short a gasps to reply if I wanted to keep up with him and not pass out, but soon there was something far more solid than exertion blocking my airways. My eyes bugged in my head as I realized there was a hand clamped over my mouth and an arm latched across my torso, restraining me as Aleks kept going until he turned out of sight, unaware that I was no longer following. Damn.

I stopped struggling, and started collecting my thoughts. My attacker was definitely fleshy, and he smelled strongly of cigarettes and cologne. I had never really gotten close enough to smell him before, but it was a scent I could guess belonged to a man like Moskvin. My brows came down in a vengeful glare.

He chuckled, and my suspicions were confirmed. "Look who came back. You must have missed me, Katja." The hand over my mouth was removed, but before I could do something useful like shout, there was a sudden hard, sharp-edged object pushing against my spine. And I didn't think he was just happy to see me. _Gun. Gun, gun, gun. I'm gonna die. Goodbye, cruel world._

I tried to keep my panic on the inside. "So, you're really gonna just shoot me? After all we've been through?"

"Seems like a fitting end to our relationship, if you ask me." The gun pressed a little harder.

"I don't know, I would have guessed your style to be more along the lines of long and tortuous death, Baldy."

"Oh?" He sounded interested. "And why would you think that?"

Okay, okay, keep him talking, just like Ultron. "Because, that's what I prefer, and you and me, we're pretty similar."

I could hear a click as the safety was turned off. My breath hitched and heart rate spiked. "How so?"

"We both don't know when to quit; like to go down fighting," now the edge of anger came out over the false innocence in my tone, my words spat through clenched teeth.

"But, my dear, you're the one going down, not me, and your fighting is, quite honestly, pathetic."

I barked out a laugh. "That's another thing, we're both unbearably naive. You really think you're getting out of this alive, Moskvin? You kill me, you can bet that there will be a robot taking his pound of flesh soon after. And he's like us too; he likes long and tortuous best."

There was a loud sneeze behind me. "Sorry," he said, "I'm allergic to bull."

That was it. No one messes with my favorite movie quote. Without warning I slammed my head back into his nose, and in his shock and pain his grip loosened just enough for me to pull away. When the gun went off, however, I guess even that small amount of movement made a difference. Pain exploded in my side as the bullet passed through the extra inch or two of chub I carried. No, not just a little pain. Unimaginable pain that made me swear to never complain about a period cramp ever, ever again. I was on the ground and I didn't even remember falling. My voice was hoarse and I didn't even remember screaming. My life didn't flash, nobody's face filled my vision, I couldn't think of any regrets, I couldn't think at all. All there was was pain, and the feeling of _if there is anything I have that I can give to have this taken away, take it_.

The only thing that registered beyond it was two more excruciatingly loud gunshots, mostly because I expected more agony to follow them. It was this point I noticed how much of me was wet. My face- probably tears. My hair- probably sweat. My a large portion of my back and left side- probably blood.

Relief was creeping over my senses. Numbness was setting in, filling my head with cotton wool but dulling the feeling of wolves tearing at my skin. I don't know how long it took me to notice I was moving. By the time I managed to open my eyes, it could have been years, but was probably closer to a few minutes. My vision cleared to see a familiar beard from underneath. "Atyets?" I think that's what I was trying to say, but it came out a slurred whine instead. My father looked down at me at the sound, his already crinkly face creased with worry.

"Do not worry, sweetheart. You will be fine." Well, that was comforting. My vision narrowed. "No, no stay awake, honey." I really, really didn't want to, but it made sense that I should, so I forced my eyes back open. I preferred tiredness to pain, anyway. And I preferred most things to death.

My mouth was trying to form words again, with slightly more success. "Ultroo...tronneh."

"Don't worry, sis." Aleks was here running with us, too, but I couldn't bring myself to turn and find the source of his panted words. "We're going to meet up with him to get out of here now." I let out a grunt of approval, very, very ready to be a long way outta here.

"Hey, I said no sleeping, missy." I hadn't noticed that I had been. "Here, you hold on to this, look after it. Keep yourself occupied." My position in my Pa's arms was jostled as he pulled something out of his pocket to place in my clammy grip. It was about the length of my thumb, thin, and rectangular. The shape felt familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it for the moment.

There was a loud noise that made my flinch, though this was more explode-y and thus gunshot-y. Though, whatever wall was now gone seemed to let much of that very sound through. Machine gun fire and around metal clangs and the distinct sound of Ultron's lasers from the fire last night. Somehow my body still had some adrenaline to pump into me and I felt awake, afraid, and very in pain all over again. Pa suddenly about-faced and started running the other direction.

" _Go, go, go_!" a thick American accent yelled, tinted with mechanical qualities. And it didn't sound good.

"Put me down, Pa, I think I can run," I told him, slipping the small rectangular prism into my bra, because where else would I put anything.

"No, you can not. Be quiet."

"Don't tell me what to do, old man! We need all the speed we can get-" I stopped because this was when there was a bang, two of us pitched forward, and landed on the unforgiving tile floor. I looked up blearily, wondering what had happened."Atyets? _Atyets!_ " I crawled over to where he lay on the ground, trying to pull himself up. Straight away I knew something was very, very wrong. When I saw the thick red leaking between the fingers pressed to his gut, I knew I was right. My heart jumped to my throat and threatened to make me throw up yesterday's meager prison stew. Aleks slid to a stop beside us from his own run, and this was when I noticed the blood that had been splattered on his own clothes, from who even knows where. Pa's eyes were wide with the fear of death as he looked at the two of us.

Our father said one word to us. "Run."

I looked over his shoulder to the oncoming hordes of familiar drones, though these ones carried heavy infantry weapons. I still shook my head. I couldn't leave my father here to die. I couldn't. He had carried my bleeding self, I would do the same for him. I started trying to hoist his large frame over my shoulder, ignoring the fire in my side, but he pushed me away. " _Run_ ," he repeated, more fervently. I shook my head more fervently. What wasn't he getting?

Something heavy sounding landed to our right, and then put itself between the three of us and a sudden volley of bullets. Ultron. He bent over Atyet's prone form, his optics scanning over the old man's face, but not saying anything, not moving. Maybe it was blood loss, but I was confused by this like most things recently. My fathers hand shot out and took a hold of the android by one of the plates on his chest, and hissed these words at the metal man with determination like I hadn't seen in my Pa since he wanted to build a self-driving car: "Protect my children, Ultron. You hear me? _Look after my kids._ "

Before I could even register through my muddled brain what was going on the robot had me and my brother in his iron grip, pun intended, and was flying us both _away_ from our Pa. "No. No, no, _Ultron_! Don't do this, we can't leave without him," I screeched, futilely trying to break from his grasp. When none of this had an affect, I turned to screaming for my father instead. Over and over I called his name as I watched his calm self become surrounded by the drones, falling out of my sight. Two more gunshots. Silence other than my unholy wail for precious seconds. Then, they turned on us.

We burst out of the building and flew out into the night, and I noted with dulled relief that these ones couldn't fly. They fired at us, and I felt each shot like a bullet to the heart, but Ultron was an impressive flier, even with a load of two people. I wished he wasn't.

When we landed in the shelter of the old barn, I noticed that the flight was a complete blur in my mind. Where had I been? I wasn't even sure where I was now, and I stood stock still staring at a spot on the ground as I contemplated that. Who was with me again? Where was my Pa? What should I order on his pizza? How long had I been in Sokovia again? Wait, had I actually left? Maybe I should ask Ma.

There was a heavy, faintly buzzing hand placed on my shoulder. "Katja," some odd sounding American said my name for some reason. "I know you're hurt, but there was not choice. He would never have let you die just because you didn't want to leave him behind."

Something very fragile within me broke at his words.

An animalistic roar tore through my throat and I threw myself at the robot, gunshot wound and all. I clawed and punched and kicked and hit until my fingernails split and my knuckles bruised and bled and then I attacked the unyielding metal some more. Somewhere out there Aleks was calling my name, but it didn't reach my conscious mind. "This is your fault. This is all your _fault_! You killed him- _you killed my Pa!_ "

I knew this was wrong, but I didn't care. I deserved to be a little wrong for once. "Katja, please. Calm yourself," he told me, sounding strained.

"No. Don't you tell me to calm down. You're a killer. You started all of this and you _killed him_. What don't you just kill me too, get it over and done with? I know you want to, so kill me!" I slammed my fists on his chest again. Tears were streaming down my face and I was feeling lightheaded. "Kill me, damn you, _kill me!_ "

He didn't move, as silent and still as the statue he resembled. My knees gave out and I fell to the ground in a sobbing heap, covered in my own and my father's blood, woozy, hopeless. I felt the familiar form of my brother slip silently behind me and wrap his arms around my curled up self. We rocked backwards and forwards in the throws of our grief, his quiet and internalized, mine not so much. Mine more so snot-filled and loud. I was only somewhat aware of Ultron standing there through my display. It didn't last long, though, because before long I was totally out for the count, passed out from more than my fair share of reasons.

* * *

 **A/N: Woah. I can honestly say I didn't expect THAT MUCH to happen this chapter. I mean, I knew Feliks was going to die, but all that other stuff was kind of a spur of the moment. Feels about right, though. I can edit out anything that doesn't fit later on in the track.**

 **Thanks for reading! How did this chapter make you feel? Please tell me in a review! I love hearing your thoughts!**


	9. Nine

**A/N: AHHHHHHH I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE I'LL SHUT UP JUST READ IT AND DON'T HATE ME**

* * *

I woke up some time the next day with the worst headache from hell in the history of mankind. No, I worry that what you heard was, 'I woke up a with a bad headache'. It was _the worst headache from hell in the history of mankind_ and I'd take you to court on that. I moan of agony left my mouth as I covered my eyes from the sunlight. What on earth did I drink last night?

"Careful, sis," I heard my brother say beside me, though he sounded odd; tired, world-weary even, "you lost a lot of blood yesterday, and I am not sure how well your wound cauterized."

"What?" I asked, confused. Then it all came rushing back at once, overwhelming me with memories and the subsequent emotional response. A lump took root in my throat. "So... Pa?"

He didn't answer my unspoken question for a few minutes, which was really answer enough in itself, then he mustered the guts to say the word, "Yeah."

I took a deep, shaky breath, removing the hand from my eyes and blinking tears away. With a whole lot of willpower and Aleks' hand supporting my back I managed to sit up, noting the fire that burned in my side with dulled interest. The pain in my head and heart were much worse. As my vision adjusted to the light that filtered through holes in the roof, I realized we were still in that same old barn. It boggled my mind that we hadn't been caught by anyone yet, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Anyway, as far as I was concerned anymore, I didn't care what they did to me. My life was as good as over, no matter what happened from here on in.

Pa was gone, murdered by the very robots he helped to create. By the very country he helped to serve. And my brother and I were orphans. The word left a hollow feeling in my gut.

Whilst trying to distract myself from my situation, I came to notice what should have been obvious: we were alone. "Where's Ultron?"

Aleks looked around, though it was clear he was well aware the android was not here. "I do not suppose you remember much, you were quite out of it, but after you fell asleep we woke you to tend to your gunshot wound. Ultron managed to seal it. You were not conscious for long; it was very painful. After that he flew off, and though I did not expect him to, he returned not long after with food," he paused here to jerk his head in the direction of a couple of large McDonald's bags, which I didn't want to ponder of the origin of. It was food and I hadn't eaten since the day before yesterday. "Then he left again. Did not say anything, and that was several hours ago, now."

He was right, I didn't remember much at all of the wound-tending debacle, but I sure as hell could remember why the assbot would have upped and left. I was still angry, I was still hurt, and a large part of me still whispered that this was all his fault. That being said, I was ashamed of my actions. I had no right to say those things. Other people probably did, but I didn't. Ultron had saved my life more times than he had threatened it by now. He did all that he could to help get me and my family out of the mess he inadvertently caused, regardless of the fact that he really didn't have to. He could have abandoned us the moment we were shoved into those vans. That bloody robot, for all his flaws, had really come through for us. Again, maybe not for other people, but he had for us.

My father, for all of _his_ flaws, loved his children, and trusted the android to protect us, in the end. And I had to go stuff all of that up with my big mouth. "I'm an idiot, Aleks."

"What do you mean, sis?" he asked while he sat there and rubbed my back, like the wonderful human being he was.

"I mean, we already lost our father, and then," that lump in my throat decided now was a good time to choke me, " _then_ I had to go be a big idiot and drive away our friend, too."

"Hey, it is okay," Aleks soothed while I started crying anew, sniffing as my nose ran.

"I said it was Ultron's fault, but it really wasn't, Aleks. It wasn't his fault, it was _mine_. _I'm_ the reason Atyets is dead." Even as Aleks murmured fervent denials I knew it was true. If Atyets hadn't have been carrying my bleeding ass there was no way this would have happened. If I would have just let that bastard, Moskvin, shoot me properly, my brother and father and Ultron would have been able to escape. I shook my head as the salty water dripped down my cheeks and my face contorted into my ugly crying expression. "If I could do it over again, if I could go back..." I choked out.

He stood from my side, moved, and placed himself in front of me, glaring sternly into my watery eyes. "You listen to me, Katja," Aleks never called me by my name, "this is not your fault, damn it. And it is not Ultron's, either. This is _their_ fault. _They_ did this, murdered a good man in cold blood, all in the name of war. Kat, you do not get it." His eyes dropped from mine and his breathing became shallow as his shoulders shook. My baby brother in so much pain made me feel awful for being so wrapped up in my own grief. I sniffed and pulled him him into a tight hug. My baby brother, my tall, disheveled, unshaven, far too skinny, far too kind baby brother. He returned the embrace with desperation.

"You do not get it, sis, you lost Atyets, but I almost lost you both. I heard him, the gunshot and your scream, and I was so..." he searched for the word.

"Scared?" I supplied, trying to keep my voice from wavering.

"No," he said, surprising me a little, as he usually wouldn't deny being terrified during anything conflict related. "I was not scared, I was so, so angry. Oh, Katja, what will I do?" he moaned, the words full of horror.

In my confusion I felt my stomach drop. "What do you mean?" This was not like him, and I was more than a little worried.

He pulled out of my arms and stood, burying his head in his hands as he began pacing in stress. I tried to follow after him, but the wound in my side pulled and forced me back down with a hiss. "Aleks, you better tell me what's wrong now before I start _really_ worrying."

He mumbled something into his hands that I couldn't begin to decipher, and when I demanded again he tell me, he threw his hands down and shouted something I never expected to hear my quiet, sweet, clever little brother to say _ever_. "I said I _killed_ him."

There were several moments of tense silence between us. When I could break it, it was is a cracked and warbled whisper, "Who? Moskvin? I don't understand."

He blinked his watery eyes and took a deep breath. "I heard the gun and your scream, right after I found Atyets and let him out. First I was scared, and I ran to find you. There was blood and you were on the ground and he was standing there with that gun. All I was thinking was, 'He will shoot you again, and then he will turn it on the rest of us, and we will all be dead because of him'." He started shaking his head, briefly pressing a hand to his mouth before he continued in a hoarse murmur, "I did not have to kill him, I could have thrown the gun away, or just shot to disable him somehow. I had no right to kill him, or anyone else." Another grieved moan escaped his chapped lips and he sank to the ground, holding his knees to his chest and burying his face in them.

While a small part of me wailed with frustration that I would now suddenly have to be the comforter, not the comforted, when my own emotional state was still very not up to par, it was totally overshadowed by every other part of me that was riddled with guilt that I had allowed myself to be the center of attention when my baby brother was quietly imploding. All of me wanted to take away his pain and for him to the his happy self again. I gingerly scooted over to beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Aleks, you are such a good person. I hope you realize that. You saved my life. You likely saved all our lives. You made the hardest decision anyone has to make, and you even have the decency to feel guilty about it." I reached over with my spare hand, catching a glance at the scabbed, scraped flesh before smoothing my father's curls away from his face. "You're right, it isn't something you want to be proud of, but it is something you need to accept as the right decision at the time." I forced a little smile and tried to jest, "Just don't make a habit of it and there wont be any problems."

He didn't raise his head. "Ultron told me that he didn't have a family, but that hardly makes me feel better. He could have changed, and I took that chance away from him. Ma always said that anyone can change." He sounded so broken.

I gave his shoulders a little shake. "And she always added, 'But not everyone will'. Sorry if I don't hold a lot of sympathy for the creep who instigated World War Three, locked me up for half a year, gave me an unjust criminal record, held my family to ransom, then tried to kill me."

"You do not understand, sis," he said finally lifting his head, staring at a thousand yards into nothing.

I nodded in humble agreement. "You're right, I don't. However, I do understand you. I know you better than anyone alive on this Earth, 'Leksy, and I know you hate the thought of hurting anyone. I know you're a good, kind, honest, intelligent person, and probably the best little brother ever, not to brag," I nudged him at this. There was the tiniest of twitches at the corner of his mouth. "And I also know..." a lump caught inconveniently in my throat accompanied by its tears-in-the-eyes henchmen, "...I-I know that _now_ more than ever I really need you, and you really need me, and damn it, we both really need a cheese burger and I can't stand up so go get them, damn you."

He quickly obliged me and I wiped the leakage from my traitorous eyes as he did. When he sat back down I eagerly snatched the large and heavy paper bag off him and peered inside. "Looks like its all beef. No drinks but there's fries. Oh, wait, there's some bottles of water down the bottom. Thank goodness, he does have a clue on what the human body needs to function. Double Cheese or Big Mac?" I asked finally, sniffling away my nose-tears.

If he noticed how desperately I was trying to distract us from our majorly crappy life he didn't mention it. "Big Mac, please," he played along with me, though his voice still held serious fatigue. I could guess he hardly slept last night. He hoed into his cold stale burger like a ravenous wolf, though. I could figure out I hardly looked any better, with the rate at with my own was disappearing. Then the fries, then the cheeseburgers. Four meals between the two of us in a matter of seconds. That was going to cause some awful indigestion later. I handed one of the four water bottles to Aleks and cracked the seal on my own, greedily gulping nearly half the bottle before realizing that probably wasn't such a good idea and slowing down. Still, the edge of my wooziness was beginning to clear.

After our meal, we sat in a more comfortable silence, neither of us daring to think of any recent events, lest we have a mental breakdown. For now, until all of this was well and truly over, we had to stay in survival mode. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement in the air: there would be time to grieve properly later. So we locked away our most troublesome emotions for now, with food in our bellies and the relative safety of the barn around us. I had pulled the top half of my bloodied coveralls to the side to inspect the ghastly bruising on my shoulder and ribs, and the crudely singed flesh over the entry and exit wounds on my side. Okay, it wasn't that bad considering, but the sight of it definitely made expelling the food I had just scoffed seem like a tempting idea. I averted my eyes and put my arm back in my sleeve. Not something I wanted to have to deal with right now. Feeling it was bad enough without having to think of the consequences of the injuries. Better to stay positive, right? I mean, at least I hadn't bled to death. I had one person to thank for that.

I sigh escaped my lungs. "I actually think I miss him," tumbled from my lips absentmindedly. Aleks looked over at me.

"Atyets?" he asked.

I shook my head. I was trying very hard not to think about Pa. "Ultron," I corrected, chewing on the inside of my cheek. "I never got to properly thank him for everything he did for us. Besides, it's too quiet without him."

"I'm touched, Katja. I never knew you felt so strongly about me," came a voice from behind me so thick with snark and metallic undertones that I thought I imagined it. Twisting my body so suddenly hurt like hell, but when my eyes settled the familiar chrome form of my simultaneously most favorite and least favorite sentient robot, I hardly even noticed. In fact, I was scrambling to my feet and running in his direction like a person that hadn't gone through hell and back the last few days. If the way his arms raised awkwardly and metal lips parted slightly he was not expecting me to fly at him with an embarrassingly tight hug. He would probably be suffocating if he wasn't a, you know, solid metal man, still, his chest rumbled with a somewhat stilted scoffing laugh. "Well, if I had known _this_ was the reception I'd be getting..."

"Shut up," I grumbled into his chest, and whacked him for good measure, "I'm actually really mad at you for making us think you had left for good." Ah, crap. I was about to cry again. I had the world's most overactive tear ducts, I swear. I sniffed and pressed closer into the warm vibranium, partly because I wasn't keen on anyone noticing the fact that I was crying again, partly because I just really needed a big robot hug. You know the feeling.

A heavy, solid hand was placed on my shoulder, gently prying me from him, but staying as his thumb rubbed lightly over my collarbone before being removed. "Leave? No, you're well and truly stuck with me, by now. Or, maybe it's me that is stuck with you. You do remind me an awful lot of a fungus."

"You're such an ass," I grumbled my obligatory retort halfheartedly. To be perfectly honest I couldn't pinpoint the exact time having the robot around became a comfort rather than a threat. It wasn't really a logical thought that I had carefully planned out, it was only a feeling. In this case, a feeling was enough for me, just for the moment. Just for the moment I wouldn't question it. "But I'm _almost_ _slightly_ glad you're here." I knew the words weren't enough, that there was so many apologies and thanks I should be showering on him, a lot of things that I was keeping guarded in my heart and mind, hidden even from myself, but looking up at him, I knew that for now we would both be better off without any of it said aloud.

His thick, glow-y eyebrows raised in a pleased way to match the smug smirk twisting the metal plates of his face. "Likewise," he retorted simply. Then his expression became serious once more as his eyes flicked between Aleks and I. "How are you doing?"

Reality came down on me like an orbital strike for the second time that day. My heart plummeted from the higher ground it had just began climbing to, and my legs buckled like they had just remembered weakness. My brother, ever observant, quickly supported me in lowering to the ground. "How many times am I going to have to remind you to be careful with yourself, sis?" he huffed, wiping the forming beads of sweat on my forehead off with his sleeve. I gave him a watery smile to hide my wince, gingerly pressing my hand into my side in a useless attempt to numb it.

The robot heaved a sigh laced with frustration. "Not well, then. This probably isn't the best time to remind you both that just because you've been hurt doesn't mean the rest of the world can or will scream to a halt. Things are only going to get worse from here on out."

Aleks shot him a look. "No, definitely _not_ the best time, Ultron," he emphasized, rubbing my back. I felt my heart swell with pride at how well he was functioning despite how upset and disturbed he had revealed himself to be a short while ago, my selfless brother. It was time for me to learn from his example.

"He's right, 'Leksy. We can't stay here forever. We could be the only outsiders who know what's going on, and we have a responsibility to do something about it." I saw Aleks' mouth open to argue, but I raised a scabbing hand to halt his words. "Yeah, it's probably a suicide mission. I get that. But even if we did ignore everything and stay here, it won't be long until we're found, and then, even if they didn't, I'm gonna need medical attention. _Real_ medical attention. I'm as good as gone either way, and I would much rather go down fighting, than with my head buried in the sand."

"No."

For a moment I thought it was Aleks who had said it, then I realized his mouth hadn't moved and the voice was not his own. My head turned to Ultron, eyes wide in surprise. Hadn't I just been agreeing with him? But there he was, all glorious shining and battle scarred seven feet of him, shaking his head with a deep scowl on his face. Confusion bred upset and fear within me. "Ultron?"

"No," he said again, with a frightening authority that I wasn't accustomed to. "You're out. I came to tell you that you're both going somewhere a long way away, where you're going to forget all of this. I'm going to get you out," he paused here, setting his jaw, "and then I'm going to leave. To fix something that should never have happened."

My jaw, rather than set, dropped and became slack. "What? _What_? You _just_ told us that you wouldn't leave. That we were stuck with each other! I'm sorry, but I'm not in the business of fair-weather friends, and you do _not_ have the right to tell me what I am and am not going to do. I'm in this for the long haul, and I'm in it with _you_."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stand here and keep encouraging the kind of harebrained schemes that almost got you killed yesterday. That _did_ get your father killed," the android bit out, forcing a gasp from me, making Aleks tighten his hold on me. It was a low blow, and Ultron knew it. Or, if he didn't, the crushed expression on my face probably would've clued him in. Either way, though he didn't move, he seemed to back down just slightly. "I'm going to put you somewhere _safe_. Don't you get it?"

"Don't _you_ get it? You can't just barge in here and tell me that I'm going to lose you too. You _can't_ , damn you! You don't get to suddenly turn around and be the martyr after all the crap you've put me through. I won't let you." A dry sob hiccuped from my throat. "I won't let you."

There was an awkward, pervasive silence for several minutes, broken only by my haggard breathing as I tried desperately to get my emotions in order. In the end, Aleks was the one to break it. "I, too, don't want all that we have suffered, all we have lost, and all we have done to be for nothing. I want to finish this."

The fight seemed to have left the android; he looked deflated. "You will get hurt." It wasn't a maybe, or even a probably, it was a statement. I replied to it in kind.

"It's a price we're willing to pay."

"An admirable attitude to have, certainly," an unfamiliar voice suddenly chimed in, making me and Aleks start in alarm. I had to blink a few times to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks.

In the large barn doorway, silhouetted against the sunlight, was a floating red and green man in a flowing gold cape, looking everything like an avenging deity.

If I had thought I had known confusion before, I was proven wrong at this moment.

Then the figure spoke again, voice smooth and calming like I never knew one could be.

"Hello, Ultron."

* * *

 **A/N: PHEW! That was a loooooot later than I expected, and nowhere near as exciting as I was hoping it would be. Shorter, too. Oh well. I got a couple of reviews that made me go "Wait, people are actually still reading this?" so I decided to jump in and finish this chapter up, finally. Like, three months later. Sorry. It was a real problem chapter, and I had to rewrite it a few times because I wasn't sure how it should all play out. Even this I'm not really happy with, but eh, it's probably better than nothing, right? And we finally have Vision. YAY! Wanda next chapter, too, cuz I'm Scarlet Vision trash.**

 **Baby steps, baby steps. Lets get this stupid story finished, damn it.**

 **Please give a review! Hate asking, but I just love them so much they give me life, bro. They also get me off my lazy ass and writing.**


	10. Ten

**A/N: Haha, you guys are seriously the cutest. Every single review made me grin, some made me laugh, a couple made me cry. My poor heart can't take all this positive reinforcement XD I'd give a special shout out but I love all you guys too much single any of you out. Basically, just assume this chapter was specifically for you, my sweeties, especially if you left me a super cute review.**

 **(Also I played the sickest game of LOL before writing this but I live in China and can't read Chinese so playing LOL is a lot of Blitzcrank button smashing and buying what I guess is good so it's amusing that I ever have a half decent game, actually HAHA (im a nerd please dont listen to me rant))**

* * *

"Hello, Ultron," the figure- the man?- said, his voice smooth like honey and rounded with that crystalline British accent that made you fall a little in love as soon as it hit your ears. Still hella suspicious, though, and I had had one to many bad experiences with new acquaintances in recent months.

I scratched at my cheek awkwardly before cutting in with a rasp, my throat still strained from shouting at Ultron moments ago, "Uh, yeah, not to be rude but who the hell are you?"

The mysterious newcomer turned his face towards me, though, with the brightness of the sun behind him I couldn't see much of his face yet. I was more than a little awestruck, too. He glided over the dusty barn floor towards us three, then lowered to ground. It was all so graceful, I felt my breath catch. "I'm sorry," he amended himself, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. They call me The-"

"Vision. My Vision," Ultron interrupted him, causing the scarlet skinned man to purse his lips. Golly, this... _Vision_ was really something. And, I mean, he hadn't shot at us yet, so that was a step up. But somehow he knew Ultron, and Ultron knew him, and was using possessive pronouns. I shot the silver robot a sidelong glance. What was going on here? "I see you came."

"Yes, indeed. And following your trail of metaphorical breadcrumbs certainly wasn't as straightforward as it could have been. You could simply have contacted me directly."

"You know I couldn't risk the likes of Stark catching wind of my existence, let alone what's been going on down here."

Aleks stood up behind me. "Wait, this was your contact?" he asked the two not-quite-humans, giving me that terribly unpleasant feeling you get when you realize that out of everyone _you_ were the one left out of the loop. It felt a bit like betrayal, and a lot like disappointment.

Ultron answered with an affirmative shrug. "Well, I can't say I made many allies in my first life, and all those that I did didn't exactly... last." The android squared his broad shoulders and stared the Vision down. A lesser being would have been intimidated. "Now, can I assume you followed instructions and told no one?"

I don't know what answer Ultron had been expecting, but uncomfortable silence apparently wasn't it. The silver android's eyes widened as he visibly tensed. " _Who_?" he demanded to know, stepping forward threateningly.

From my vantage point on the ground, battered and broken from the last few days' ordeals, I glanced between the beings warily, and considered whether I would have to put myself between them. I didn't know who on Earth this Vision was, or what he was capable of, other than, you know, _flying_ , but something told me that if it came down to a rumble, Ultron would not be the one coming back out. And we had come too far to let it come to an end like that.

Thankfully, my concerns were answered, in the form of yet another stranger coming in through that open doorway, distracting the superbeings from the tension that had been mounting.

Oh, you thought the situation was diffused? Oh, hell no. No, it just replaced the party popper with an atom bomb. And the bomb went off.

As soon as Ultron's red optics registered the person barging through the door his reaction was immediate and instinctual. He raised a laser endowed metal hand and shot at the woman, who seemed disinclined to stand there and take it. Red laser beams met with similar toned energy in a pulse of pure power, and then were superseded by waves more in a concussive retaliation that knocked the seven foot silver man flying.

I was hardly even sure what I had just seen when I realized that I had sprung to my feet again, like the moron I was, and was throwing myself at the hostile woman with a rage I hadn't known I had in me for Ultron's sake. By the time I caught up with myself my fist was moving through the air with an eagerness for her face- instead it met with something more solid than I knew could exist. The Vision?Something went awfully wrong in my hand as it collided with his green clad chest, but I was shoved back onto the ground and the pain in my side exploded before the lesser agony in my hand could even gather my attention. _What the hell_?

The buzzing-thud-shwoomp sound that signified Ultron's lasers firing kept the mess going, the shots striking the Vision, and while this _thing_ seemed to be mostly unaffected by the blasts, they did singe his outfit. Now the yellow glow at his forehead was growing steadily brighter, like it was charging something aimed at my sort-of-favorite robot asshole and all my helpful brain could muster up was, _Well, we tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end... we're still gonna be a bunch of very dead jackasses with unmarked graves._

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Aleks screamed as he got between the brawl with his arms stretched out. "Do we not have bigger things to worry about? _The world is heading for war,_ damn it!"

"You're right. There are greater things at stake." The glow dulled once more as the Vision lowered himself to the ground once more, looking somewhat ashamed, but the outrage still simmered beneath the surface of his self control. At least, he didn't look like he was going to kill us anymore. I couldn't help but level a heavy glare on the two of them as I nursed my hand and tried to ignore the fact that there was tears running down my dirty face.

My scowl, however, was nothing compared to that of whoever this woman was. She was ridiculously powerful, as that little demonstration had showed, dressed in red leather, and seemed to have a personal vendetta against Ultron for some reason. Okay, who am I kidding, the vendetta wasn't that surprising taking Ultron's winning personality into account. I turned my gaze to said robot, my expression becoming confused and upset once more. When our eyes met he looked away to the ground, wiping some black grease from his lip. There was now a deep gash carved into the tough vibranium of his collarbone equivalent, another smear of grease marring the edges, and if I didn't know any better I would say it looked painful. What I did know was that the short scuffle shouldn't have damaged him as much as I could see it did, and I worried again for the state of his poorly repaired fusion core. As if I didn't have enough to worry about without adding the damn robot to the list.

Who am I kidding anymore- he's been on that list a long time now.

"Now," my brother started again, his tone more stern and commanding than I had expected it could ever be, "I want you to explain yourselves, or I want you to leave. We do not have time for immature and unnecessary fighting." At this he cast an irritated look at Ultron, who had, indeed, started it. "Are you two here to help us prevent this catastrophe or not?"

It was still the Vision who spoke for the two of them, probably because it looked as if the only words the woman would be capable of spewing at that moment were terrible curses. "The lives of every human on the planet are at stake. We will do whatever it takes. As I said before, I am the Vision, and this," he gestured a red, gauntlet clad had in her direction, "is Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. You might call us... _lesser known_ Avengers."

"Why would you bring _her_ of all people into this?" Ultron demanded, pushing himself back to his feet. "I see _Tony Stark_ ," he spat the name, "didn't program you with boundless _common sense_."

Wanda's eyes lit with angry red light. "You _despicable cockroach_. I hope you know that I will take great pleasure in killing you again when this is over." Her voice was thick with the familiar Sokovian accent, but that was of little note while everyone was talking about Ultron contacting an _Avenger_ and Stark's programming and killing someone again on top of the concept of the nearing WWIII.

"Wanda," the Vision murmured gently, resting a hand on her arm. Her glare met his gaze, and slowly her face relaxed. It was almost as if they were having a silent conversation as they looked at each other. Then, she nodded, threw another bitter look at Ultron, and left the barn. Okay, maybe they really _were_ having a silent conversation. Damn superhero types. The red man with the startlingly clear eyes focused back on us three, his expression conflicted. "I told Wanda because she was the only one I was certain to be able to trust with the current situation among the other Avengers. She assured me that she would be able to put the past behind her for the sake of the mission, and I have confidence in her. If you are correct in your assessment of the situation we will need all the power we can muster." He locked eyes with the 'despicable cockroach' and commented, "You cannot exactly blame her for being overwhelmingly hurt and angry even still. Her wounds haven't yet healed, and may never fully do so."

Ultron tightened his hands into fists. "What happened to Pietro wasn't my fault. I never intended to-" his words cut off and his metal lips pursed for a second. "He shouldn't have gotten in my way."

A distant memory pulled at my mind, a conversation from six months ago almost forgotten, talking about the only two friends that the robot had ever had, and killed. Well, whoever this Wanda was, she was still alive and kicking. There were so many unanswered questions. "Ultron, what the hell's going on here? Why would you contact one of the Avengers? " I asked, desperation in my voice. I just wanted life to make sense again.

"Katja," he started, and sighed, a feat that still baffled me considering he was made of metal and circuitry. "This was never what I planned."

"Yeah, _no kidding_ , because your plans _never_ blow up in your face, do they? It must _suck_ that a bunch of lowly humans are doing a better job of conquering the Earth with your drones than you ever did, right? But that doesn't answer my question, does it?" My words were thick with sarcasm and resentment, and I waved a hand at Aleks for him to help me stand so I could continue my pissed off tirade properly. It hurt, but it felt better to stand at full height. "So tell me, Ultron. Why would you put yourself at risk to stop the very thing that you were trying to do just half a year ago? Pride? If you can't have it then no one can?"

He seemed caught off guard and weary of the topic already, but I needed this. _I needed this_. "Ultron, _please_. Why would you put yourself in danger for us, over and over again? _Why_?" I tried again, clinging to the hope that was building in my chest. Was I imagining change where there was none? Was this all just to betray us once more? All these little hints of goodness weren't quite enough. I needed to hear him say it.

The android was silent far too long, and when he finally opened his mouth to speak, it was a disappointment. "I don't know, Katja. I don't know," was all he said. I made a disgusted noise and looked away. My disgust, however, wasn't aimed at him, but myself, because even with his noncommittal answer, my growing esteem for him wouldn't budge.

"Well, you better figure it out soon, because despite your personality you've grown on me, and the longer you take, the more it's gonna hurt when you're ripped out of my life for whatever reason. You kinda remind _me_ of a fungus, too, y'know," I finished with a halfhearted grumble.

"It seems to me," the Vision added, "that at least for now, it should be enough that we all share a common enemy. Perhaps we can settle the finer intricacies of where we stand with one another after it is taken care of."

"Uh, right," I mumbled, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. Note to self: keep the mushy stuff and incidental definitely-not-flirting to a low with the Avengers in the room. Change the subject, any subject- "So, what exactly _are_ you? How do you guys know each other? I mean, not to be rude, or anything."

The Vision seemed unsure of how to answer my oh-so-tactful questioning. "It's, well, it's complicated, I'm afraid."

"You can trust her, you know," Ultron cut in on my behalf unexpectedly, "you can trust them both."

There was another pause as the red man summed the three of us up before nodding. "Okay. Mostly it is just difficult to explain in layman's terms. Simply, I am something called a Synthozoid, the first of my kind. A synthetic human, with a synthetic mind." He gestured to the android. "Ultron created my body for his own use soon before the attack on Sokovia, however it was retrieved by the Avengers before he could install his consciousness. I came into existence when Tony Stark attempted to implement his own AI to the system." It seemed overly simplified, like there was a lot he still didn't feel like he could share with a couple of civilians, but I guess I could respect that. There was another point that I felt deserved more attention.

"Wait... So, you said that originally Ultron built this body for himself...?" I tried to merge in my mind Ultron's voice and mannerisms with this thin, lanky, gentle body and face, and made myself snort with laughter. "I'm sorry, but couldn't you have designed something a little more... _you_ if that was your purpose?"

Ultron folded his bulky metal arms and raised an eyebrow plate. "Oh yes? If you want to be a critic, what would you have imagined?"

"I dunno, maybe something more like James Spader? A body with a different kind of charisma."

"Come on, sis. Can we please remain focused? We do not want to waste the Vision and Scarlet Witch's time, even if we did have some to spare with the situation as dire as it is."

The Vision smiled warmly, and it was glorious to see. "Actually, I don't think I mind seeing this kind of interaction. It's good to see how much progress you've made since we last spoke, Ultron."

The android didn't respond further than a quiet scoff before we switched the subject quickly, not unlike I had just a couple of minutes ago. "Maybe instead of over analyzing every little thing I say or do, you should introduce Aleks to Wanda outside. He's the least likely to offend her, after all."

I was going to object to that statement, but shut my mouth when I realized it was completely true. The other woman and I hadn't exactly gotten off to the best start, and Sokovian women knew how to hold a grudge. "Yeah, if we want her help- and if she can knock Ultron on his ass than she is definitely the kind of help we need- Aleks, you're definitely our best bet to negotiate with her. Plus, you're smart."

He looked uncomfortable with the suggestion, but understood our logic. "Okay, fine. I will talk to her."

"As you wish. Follow me; I will do my best to convince her to listen to you after the rough introduction you received." And so my brother walked out after the synthozoid, who glided an inch above the ground, leaving me with the mercurial sassbot.

"Okay, you're not exactly the greatest at subtlety, so why did you want to get them out of the room, Ultron?"

"Well, actually, I've been waiting for an opportunity to return this to you," he said, retrieving a small rectangle from under a stack of wood and holding it out to me. Confusedly, I took it from him and inspected it before recognition flooded through me.

"Where did you get this?" I asked quietly, running the pads of my fingers over the worn plastic of the old USB. As far as items went, it wasn't all that significant, but I recognized it as the USB my family used for years when my brother and I were younger and they were just starting to be a thing. It was slow and small for today's standards, but it was my father's.

The Metal Head chuckled. "Actually, it fell out of your bra while I was cauterizing your wounds last night. I had assumed you had been the one to put it there."

Oh, I remembered now. During the rescue that went wrong, Atyets had given me something to hold, and I had, indeed, stashed it in my bra, but I hadn't paid much attention to it with everything going on. I shook the memory away before the pain in my heart could drown me again. "You're right, I did. He, he gave it to me before he..." I blinked at the wetness in my eyes. "Wait a second, I've got to see what's on this thing," I trailed off, and prompted the robutt to fetch my laptop, glad now that I hadn't wasted its battery the day before.

Sitting crosslegged now, with my laptop, true to its namesake, set on my lap, I opened it in a rush and pushed the USB into a slot on the side, patiently waiting for the autoplay popup. Looking at the files, they seemed to be numbered video files. Nerves twisting in my gut, I put them all in a playlist and started the first one. As it started, the tears I had worked to banish came right on back. "Ma," I breathed, pressing a hand to my mouth as the old footage of my mother cooking in a lackluster kitchen, my brother, maybe five or six years old, standing on a stool beside her doing his best impression of helping, smeared with flour head to toe. She laughed, a laugh I hadn't heard in far too long, and that was it; I choked out a sob.

" _Why are you filming us, hon? I'm a mess!"_ she exclaimed, smiling at the person behind the camera, her almond eyes so warm and filled with joy and humor. _God, I miss her so much_.

" _Atyets! Look at the cookies! I made them,"_ little Aleks chimed in, holding up a tray of uncooked dinosaur shaped cookie dough high above his head of wild ringlets.

" _Oh, you made them, did you? And I suppose your mother did nothing_ ," the voice of my father joked with his deep rumbling laugh shaking the camera. The Aleks on the screen pulled a face.

" _Well, she helped a little_."

The clip ended and the next one began, but I could hardly register the footage of a younger me playing on the swings at the park, because I was obviously busy crying my eyes out. It hurt, so, so much to have lost two of the most important people in my world. When you love someone that much and suddenly they're gone, all that love has nothing left to do but cause pain in their absence. Watching that video hurt, but at the same time, there was a broad smile under the rivulets of tears on my face, because I still loved them, and those memories were still happy ones. I knew, from experience, that eventually I would be able to enjoy the good memories again without large portions of the pain, and I was glad that my father had not only kept this with him all this time, and then given it to me. I couldn't wait to share this with Aleks.

My Pa really did love his family.

"Katja," Ultron spoke up gently, startling me. I had completely forgotten he was there. "If it would make you more comfortable, I can go outside, give you some privacy."

I shook my head, turning my attention back to the screen, which was now playing the third clip: Aleks and I playing tiggy in the backyard. "I... don't mind the company, actually. It's up to you, you don't have to stay if you don't want to."

I expected that to be it, but was faintly surprised when I heard him sit himself down to the right of me, more than an arm's reach away, but there all the same. We sat in silence as the videos of my childhood, of happier times, played, not for very long, there was only a little over ten minutes of footage all up, but it was when we hit nine minutes and thirty-seven seconds in that the tone changed and the real world started again.

" _Katja, Aleks, I am so, so sorry for all that I have put you through in the past six months. No, I am sorry for every mistake I have made as your father_." Atyet's face was closeup and centered on the screen, with all the weathering and signs of age that he held when I saw him yesterday. The video was fresh, and seemed to have been shot in some small room, like a bathroom or storage closet. My breath caught in my throat. " _This, though, I think has topped every financial instability or failed plan yet, but_ -" he cut himself off and glanced to the shut door behind him, before looking back at the camera and continuing with a lower voice, " _I swear to you that I will fix this, if it is the last thing I ever do. I'm sorry that I couldn't go with you, but I needed to finish what I started. There is a flaw_ -"

I gathered enough of my wits about me to hit the pause button and shoot a frantic look over my shoulder at Ultron. "Get Aleks and the others. _Now_."

* * *

We sat huddled around the laptop, watching my father's message for the third time, making sure we didn't miss a thing. " _I swear to you that I will fix this, if it is the last thing I ever do. I'm sorry that I couldn't go with you, but I needed to finish what I started. There is a flaw in the Infinitus' system- the human element. The Infinitus Primes- yes, they have one for each squad of Drones- themselves lacks a large amount of autonomy. I'm sure that by now Aleks has explained that they plan on using a team to send primary commands to the Prime, and that the Drones collect their primary commands by a simple program through wireless integration with said Primes. The whole system relies on the indestructibility of the Prime unit. While they have already began working on EMP resistance since your escape, I know these systems better than anyone- that is not the only gap in the armor. I have been developing a specialized virus since I began here._ " He pulled a face and rubbed a hand over his beard. " _It's still untested, and largely unperfected, but if I know you and your stubbornness, Katja, you will be back here soon, so I am encrypting this USB with the Infinitus fail safe code as it is._ "

There was another pause as his expression became sad and his dark eyes welled with tears. I swallowed the lump in my throat, as I had done each time previously I had watched the confession. " _I wish I had been able to leave with you, I regret now that I didn't. While I hope that we will all be able to escape together soon, I... I do fear that not all of us will. The odds are just not in our favor. Please, please stay safe. That is more important than anything. Get the virus to SHIELD, or the Avengers, and go somewhere safe. If for some reason I can't be with you when you get this, please know that I am so sorry that I have failed you as a father yet again, but know that I love you, Aleks, Katja, so much, and I am so proud of both of you. I have to go, but please, stay safe._ "

The screen became blank as the video ended. Silence pervaded the motley group, but at least no one was shooting at each other.

Surprisingly, Wanda was the first to break it. "Your father, he must have loved you. Is he...?" she trailed off before she finished the question, but the meaning was clear.

"He's dead," I answered her in a dull tone, "he died yesterday while we were trying to rescue him."

"I'm sorry," she replied softly, and I tried to send her a grateful smile, but couldn't manage more than a defeated shrug.

"This was why he refused to join me in our plan of escape, he wanted to stop this from the inside," Aleks said out of the blue, his gaze faraway and his voice laced with regret. "He was thinking of everyone, risking his life for them."

"Well, now he's dead," I snapped, immediately realizing my cruel mistake and heaving a sigh. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just he was right; this was my fault. I'm the one who wouldn't listen to reason and made us go back there and put us all in that kind of danger. I don't want to do that again, Aleks. Next time it might be _you_ , or Ultron, or me." I ran one hand through my dirty hair, and gestured enthusiastically towards the two newest members of the Odd Squad. "He asked us to leave this in the hands of the Avengers, and now we have." I yanked the USB out of its slot and tossed it in the direction of the Vision, feeling an unexplained bitterness roiling in my gut. "There; done. Final wishes complete."

Ultron had never put up with my attitude before, and he wasn't going to start now. "What happened to what you said when I suggested that exact thing this morning? You're quitting already? Didn't take you long, but I can't say I expected better of you."

"Hey, I am _great_ at quitting, alright? I am stubbornly good at _quitting_. I quit my whole freakin' country and family when things started getting too tough. I never do what I'm supposed to. I always give too much or too little, and it doesn't matter which I choose because it's always wrong. I want to save the people I care about, but I end up killing them in the process." I slammed the lid of my laptop down angrily, cringing when I realized I might have broken the screen, but it only proved my statement. I knew now what a liability I was.

"You think you're the only one, Katja? You're honestly that self centered? Because everything you damn yourself with reminds me of someone." I met the android's glowing red stare with my glassy one, not knowing whom he was referring to. "Me, Katja, you remind me of myself. That's why we're going to help each other see this through to the end; because I don't think either of us can live with ourselves if we don't."

"Why do you care?" I asked him again, feeling the exhaustion of my soul leaching into my words, expecting no answer further than the _I don't know_ of earlier.

But I should have known that robot would always do the opposite of what I expected of him.

"Because I do," he answered simply, not breaking eye contact.

The dumb expression on my face lasted a few long moments, then I sat up straight and clapped my hands together and looked at the other confused and distrustful faces around me. "Well, who's ready to stop another robot invasion? We have an encryption to crack."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, another chapter that did NOT go as I expected it to. Honestly, I don't know how this even happens. Why do I even bother outlining? Guess I have to put the other stuff off until next chapter.**

 **Hows the pacing feeling, guys? It's definitely not my strong point. Some things I rush, and others I stagnate. HA I'm like Katja.**

 **Plenty of things to go wrong before we finish, though, guys!**

 **REVIEW SO I KEEP THIS WRITING ROLL GOING AND DON'T TAKE ANOTHER THREE MONTH HIATUS!**


	11. Eleven

**A/N: Well... the hiatus hasn't been QUITE as long as usual. So yaaaaaay. Well, I did move countries again this month. That'll be my excuse this time.**

 **Enjoy guys! I love that you enjoy this strange and convoluted story so much. Special thanks to Sorceress and Weaponofmasscreationn for being awesome. Sorceress leaves the best, most detailed, most encouraging reviews, I swear. Amelia, you know how much you pestered me to keep on writing, then you beta'd, you know what a cool bean you are XD**

* * *

Five days had passed since we had discovered my father's message and the 'Save The World' Virus. Well, that's what I had taken to calling it, but the name hadn't stuck with the others yet; they thought it was tacky, apparently. Day one had been spent in a mad rush of explaining the situation so far, and an interrogation-like level of questioning by the Vision for the three of us. The questions didn't cease to be fired at me, despite my general ignorance of the important details, until sweat was pouring off my brow in fever and Aleks intervened on my behalf, sending me away to rest with the promise that he would be able to tell the Synthozoid everything that I couldn't.

Day two was my own personal fiery hell. The fever didn't abate that night, but rather became worse, and every breath felt like tearing my torso in two. I don't remember much more than briefly drifting out of the haze of sickness and pain into lucidity every now and again to see my brother hovering over me, whispering words of encouragement with worry and fear written in his eyes. Not much progress was made on day two.

Day three I didn't wake up at all.

On day Four I was roused to the stoic face of Ultron, and Aleks' angry shouts of objection in the background. I don't recall any of what was said, or the question the robot asked me, but I do know that I said yes, before sleep claimed me again.

The dreams I had that night were strange.

Then the next morning, _this_ morning, I woke up, with agony and fever nothing but a faded memory. As my eyes came into focus, and thinking flowed freely without the hampering of headache and fog that I had almost gotten used to, something felt off.

There was a shuffling beside me, and my brother's voice calling out to the others that I was awake. "How are you feeling, sis?" he asked warily, and I turned my head to face him.

"I don't know, fine, sort of strange," I croaked, my throat dry. He pushed a bottle of water into my hand and I drank greedily. When my throat no longer felt dry and sticky, I twisted the cap back on and, though I feared the answer, asked, "What happened?"

He shifted awkwardly, and glanced sideways at where Wanda and Ultron were standing a ways away, watching our conversation but not joining in. "You were sick from your injury, and stress, perhaps. But you're better now, so don't worry." His expression had grown shielded as he answered me, and I pursed my lips, not liking that he would so obviously hide something from me. He met my eyes for just a second, saw the knowing disappointment in them, and quickly looked away.

There was a pregnant pause as I decided whether or not I would push it, drag the answer out of him, or someone else, but in the end I shook my head with a sigh and sat up. No pain from the gunshot wound in my side, not even a petty sting. I gently ran the pads of my fingers over the injury, feeling the rough skin and scabbing through the bloodstained fabric of my coveralls, but even poking at it drew no reaction. It was perturbing. I certainly didn't feel drugged, but there was no way I had healed so suddenly, especially as the object of my affliction was still as nasty as I remembered it being. _Don't look the gift horse in the mouth, Katja. We have more important things to focus on right now._

With my determination refreshed, I set my jaw and stood up, Aleks flinching and moving towards me like he expected me to drop to the ground again, or shatter to pieces in front of him. "So, what's the plan? What did I miss?"

Ultron stepped forward. "The Vision has taken the USB to the Nexus for decoding. Feliks was a clever man; it was going to take a lot more than your flimsy laptop to decrypt that virus. I would have done it myself, but his face is a little less... _wanted_ than mine."

He turned his red optics towards Wanda, and she added, "While you were sleeping, we made great progress on information gathering." I bristled at the word 'sleeping', like she was implying that I had chosen to take a nap instead of work with the others. "I had some-" she paused to choose her words, and I noted that people seemed to be doing that around me a lot, lately, "- _words_ , with the Sokovian President. Like Aleks and Ultron had suspected, he was just a pawn for Moskvin and his associates, and now that Moskvin is dead, they have had to change their plans quite dramatically."

"And not in our favor," the android finished for her, turning back to me. "They've moved their schedule forward. We're now down to _days_ before they make their move."

I buried my head in my hands as I absorbed this new information, but my train of thought kept getting derailed along the way by suspicion and hurt feelings. What else had happened while I was out of the picture? Aleks was hiding things from me. Wanda and Ultron had been bitter enemies last time I checked, now they were finishing the other's thoughts like they shared the same brain. The four of them together practically solved everything just fine without me. In fact, they probably would have done so even faster if I wasn't there slowing them down.

I bit down on my cheek to snap myself out of it, to remind myself to focus on the job at hand. I would just have to prove to them that I wasn't a liability after all. I lowered my hands and looked at them in turn. "Okay, that's a lot to take in, but okay. What's our next move, then?"

Ultron heaved a digital sigh, but managed a crooked smirk. "Now; now we play the waiting game, and we pray."

* * *

The rest of the day played out in irritating idleness. After spending so much of my time asleep, and cooped up in a cell before that, I wanted to use my new, seeming miraculous, good health to do something where there was nothing to do. Aleks had gone to sleep in a quieter part of the barn and catch up on the hours he had missed while he worried over my condition, leaving me to face my boredom relatively alone, seeing as neither of our remaining companions seemed to be in a talking mood.

I had decided to spend a large amount of my free time watching Wanda practice using her abilities outside in the relative warmth of the winter sun, and was beginning to question the wisdom of the choice. As she floated suspended in the air, levitated boulders twice her size, tore old tree stumps from the ground with ease, radiating with violent red energy, I found myself stuck firmly between breathless awe and bitter jealousy regarding the woman. No mysteries regarding her had yet been solved, leaving me to stew in my curiosity. How did she come by such power? What, exactly, were the limits of what she could achieve? Who was Pietro, and what had happened to him? What was her relationship with the equally mysterious Vision, and what was her relationship with Ultron? It was clear with the obvious hatred in her eyes every time she looked at him that their history was a rocky one, and the reason loathing was personal, but neither seemed eager to share their life story with anyone, let alone someone like me. In fact, if she had not been distracted by her exercises and noticed my watching, I have little doubt she would have stopped and gone elsewhere. That was why I had chosen to sit surreptitiously in the shade of the old tractor's rusty corpse, definitely not hiding from the intimidating woman. Definitely not.

It was also why when Ultron strode out onto the grass towards her, he didn't seem to notice my presence, either. I shrunk further into the hiding place, and for a moment, I thought better of eavesdropping. I really did. But then, I had never been one to listen to good advice, even my own.

His footsteps were heavy even on the soft ground, and it was obvious she heard him coming, because she lowered to the ground and her shoulders tensed as she pointedly didn't turn around to acknowledge him. "Wanda," he prompted, voice low.

"What?" she hissed, refusing to look at him. Scarlet energy crackled at her fingers.

"You know this has been a long time coming, Wanda. There have been a lot of words waiting to be said since your betrayal."

At this she spun around, fury in her eyes. " _My_ betrayal? Mine? Don't you dare pin this on me. Don't you _dare_ try to make this into my fault!" A pulse of power left her, knocking his large form down so that she stood taller than him. I remembered thinking that the Vision bore the image of an avenging deity when I first saw him, but he had nothing on the picture of Wanda now, eyes glowing and hair fluttering as her power struggled to stay in control, power I was beginning to suspect could rend the world in two if she so pleased. My fingers twitched as my instincts told me to go and step in before things became messy, even if either of them could swat me like a fly with hardly an effort.

"You know, Wanda, you _know_ that I never planned for your brother to die."

Her expression, which had been frightful before, now became terrifying in the intensity of her rage. "He didn't just die, you _murdered him_!" She advanced on him now, but I could feel there was something that would hold her back from ending the robot for good, whether it was her word to Vision, or something else, I wasn't sure.

He raised his hands, in a gesture that I couldn't decide was defensive or placating, before dropping them back to the ground in defeat. He sat hunched, staring at the grass, and I suddenly felt very guilty for seeing this. Before I could make the move to sneak away, I heard him speak again. "An _accident_. It was a _mistake_. I don't need to justify myself to you. I just need you to remember that I never wanted either of you to get hurt. You were never meant to die."

My heart felt like it was lodged in my throat as I watched, just as unable to tear my eyes away as she was. The silence stretched as her violent energy and anger slowly dissolved into shock and confusion, tainted by hurt and sadness. Then the quiet was broken by Ultron's voice, a name, and two simple words: "Wanda, I cared."

And with those words, words that should have made me happy, but somehow made me want to lose the contents of my stomach, my limbs remembered how to move, and I rushed back into the barn before I could hear anything else.

It took me a moment to catch my breath once I was inside, though I couldn't put my finger on why I felt so tight in the chest. I pressed a hand over my eyes and tried to get a hold of myself, while my feet began pacing the room of their own accord. _Okay_ , I told myself sternly, _so he cared about some people long before he met me- us- Feliks and Aleks. That's a good thing. The more he cares about the people who live on it, the less likely he is to destroy the Earth or something, right?_

But that didn't stop him from killing people before, killing Wanda's brother.

 _He just said that was an accident, and she didn't exactly argue it, so there must have been at least_ some _truth to the statement. And anyone who was all evil wouldn't have helped us like he had._

He would have helped Wanda and her brother- Pietro?- when they were on the same side, too. Y'know, before he tried to wipe out all human life.

 _But he said that he never wanted either of them to die, so destroying all life_ couldn't _have been his plan._

He still would have killed me. And Pa, and Aleks. He would have dropped my home on the Earth and killed my family before he ever met us. The impact would take time to cover everything. My brother and Atyets would have been among the first to go. I would have had to watch the devastation in China on the news while I waited my turn to die, knowing that they were gone. Tears sprang to my eyes at the thought. I felt so conflicted.

Earlier that week, the android, the clever, sarcastic, dangerous robot that had somehow become someone I'd consider a friend, had basically confirmed that he cared about my wellbeing at least somewhat. He'd said that he wanted to help me get justice for my father, and allowed me part in saving the world, even when I had so little to offer. He had broken me out of prison, and promised to help save my Atyets. He'd cauterized my wound, and supplied food and water, and wanted to keep me and my brother safe, out of harms way.

He had put himself between me and the Infinitus that wanted to kill me, and carried my sorry ass out of trouble more than once. I guess it had been appealing to think, even subconsciously, that all of that had something to do with me, but really, everything Ultron did was Ultron's, and I had no right to claim credit for the goodness in him, even if it had started out so misguided.

My pacing stopped, and I stood stock-still in the middle of the barn as clarity began to settle on my mind. Ultron was still learning, still growing, still choosing who he was. Anyone who thought they could change him, control him, was kidding themselves. If Ultron got through the current adventure and decided he still wanted what he did before, then okay, the human race would defend themselves against him again, but that choice was not mine to make for him.

And if he did change, did choose... _life_... then I would support his right to that life with my dying breath.

"Katja."

The sudden intrusion startled me into a leap and yelp, complete with ninja chops to the air, until I managed to realize that the large, silver, smirking man who was standing behind me didn't mean me any harm. Well, no harm further than the mini-heart attack he caused by sneaking up on me while I was _clearly_ lost in thought. _Thoughts about him_ , a jeering little mental voice reminded me, making my cheeks heat up uncomfortably. I cleared my throat and halfheartedly retorted, "Metal Head."

He continued his slow approach, not stopping until he was well into my personal space bubble. I took a step back to compensate and swallowed thickly. His features, though they only had a limited range of expression, managed to be lit by smug humor as he took note of my discomfort. Some things never change.

The stare-off lasted several long moments before he finally commented, "You were outside, listening."

I spluttered. "Listening? To you and Wanda? Pfft- no!" He raised an eyebrow plate. "I was watching, too," I confessed with a sheepish grin. "You got your ass handed to you."

"The ass you like to appreciate so much."

"That's the one."

He hmmed his amusement noncommittally, still looking at me intently, which struck me as odd, as usually he would continue the banter. There was another pause. "You have questions," he said after a moment, and I wondered how I could always be read so easily.

"Yeah," I admitted, swallowing again. There was a tension in the air that I was unaccustomed to, putting me on edge, making me feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

He spread his strong metal arms in a mockery of an inviting gesture. "Here I am, ask away." There was a dare in his voice, but I couldn't figure out the implications of it. It was right there; ' _I dare you, I dare you_ ', but dare me to what, exactly? To be bold? To follow my instincts?

"Did you love her?"

Crap. Hell no. That was not my voice. That was definitely someone who just sounded exactly like me. There was no way I would say something like that.

Crap. I did.

Even as my face fell with the implications of my lack of brain-mouth filter, his didn't shift more than a brief blink of surprise. Was he thrown off by the question, or that I actually had the guts to ask it? I opened my mouth to retract it, to laugh it off and punch him in the shoulder as one does when one stuffs up, but he got there first. "Yes," was his answer.

Something in my gut twisted painfully, and it wasn't the bullet wound. I grinned, because humor is easier to deal with. "Well, damn, you know you're a looker when even the AIs think so. She is quite the catch. Shame you screwed up, then, man." I laughed. I thought it sounded pretty convincing.

.He didn't take the bait, but he did take another step closer. It made me upset, so I took another one back. I didn't like this game anymore, not when I wasn't winning. "You surely have more questions then that," he murmured, and I could still hear it in his tone, _'I dare you, I dare you'._ Dare me to what?!

All the swallowing in the world couldn't dislodge the lump from my throat. Giving up would be admitting defeat. Still, all I managed was a strangled, "Now?"

He knew what I meant. He always knew. "No," was all he said, as he took another step, and this time I stayed put, trying to look defiant even as my breathing became shallow.

I wet my lips and pressed on, trying not to be intimidated by those glowing red eyes. "Why not?"

"Because," he replied, leaning marginally closer, "people move on."

He was so close, and there dare was still clear in the glass of his optics, and then he was gone, walking away with his usual saunter, clearly enjoying himself, the jackass. I rolled my eyes skyward, but couldn't help the quirk of my mouth into a grin. "You know," I called out teasingly, and he paused his step, looking over his broad shoulder at me curiously, "you _might_ be one of my favorite people, like top 20, at least."

His torso rattled with a metallic chuckle as he resumed his walk. "Likewise."

* * *

 **A/N: Tadaaaa! What did you guys think? Sorry no Vision in this one... he had more important things to do. Sorry for the constant delays!**

 **REVIEWWWWWWWW thankyou -w-b**


	12. Twelve

**A/N: Back again! This story will be one year old on the 7th, so I thought I should probably get chapter twelve out before then, haha. Then I have a chapter a month average! Yaaaay**

 **I suck.**

 **ALSO I SAW CIVIL WAR AND MAN IT WAS SOOO GOOD. This story is soooo AU now though. However, it shall remain _spoiler free_ , good readers! Oh, and if any of you have seen it and wanna talk about it, I'm game if you wanna shoot me a message.**

* * *

It had been three days since I had woken up feeling fit as a fiddle when I really shouldn't be, and since Ultron and Wanda had had their little 'talk'. I had to admit, it had definitely been less tense with some of the bad blood diluted, and it was nice not feeling like I had to prevent a civil war constantly. Our time, therefore, was being much better used than it had been when everyone was trying to kill each other. Wanda had proven herself very useful in making covert runs, gathering information, guns, and, thank goodness, clothes that weren't bloodstained prison greys. Things were looking marginally better and brighter, now I wasn't wearing my own dried blood, and my brother wasn't wearing that of the late Moskvin.

I had never, ever expected to hold a gun in my life, but universe likes to dunk on you like that sometimes. Now I carried a handgun with me every second of the day, and trained regularly with the bigger guns we had dug up. The ones I still couldn't, and never would, be able to remember the names of. Regardless, I would much rather have one than not while we fought a robot army. Okay, fought was the wrong word. Even with three of us five being highly powerful individuals, we knew all-out assault would be suicide. It was more like a game of 'capture the flag and try not to die', and we were all embracing that concept. Even Aleks, who I was certain would refuse to carry a weapon, even one to use against machines, accepted his readily, and had taken to practicing with us. He, like the others, had been acting oddly. I was still lacking a large part of their respective stories, even though they had stopped being _quite_ so tight-lipped around me, but Aleks, who was naturally the more approachable out of the two of us, would always share what he had gained in conversation with me. Well, that was when he would talk to me at all, anymore.

So far all I really knew was that when Ultron was still newly awakened he had sough out the help of Wanda and her twin brother, Pietro, in his mission to destroy the Avengers. Why they had been so eager to join him in the first place was still a mystery, but I had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with one Tony Stark.

Now that the robutt and the scary lady had somewhat of a truce, it was obvious to see why they had been such an effective team before the split. They worked like a well oiled machine, pardon the pun, when they weren't at loggerheads. It was almost like they thought the same way, like they shared the same book and always landed on the same page whenever it came to preparing ourselves for the coming catastrophe, and the Vision's return. That isn't to say everything was roses; it was clear that Wanda still loathed everything about the android, and sometimes seemed to disagree with him just because she could, but it did appear that a lot of the murderous intent had been replaced with garden variety distrust and hurt. I could definitely understand where she was coming from with that one, too, because losing Aleks would be a pain I couldn't imagine, especially if it had come at the hands of someone I once trusted. I couldn't imagine it.

Moved by the thought, I came up behind where my brother was standing in the midday sun, deep in thought about something likely far too smart, and wrapped my arms around his thin frame. He must have understood the meaning behind the sudden invasion of his personal space because he didn't question it, just turned around and returned the embrace. "Are you okay, sis?" he asked me softly, bringing a bitter smile out of me.

"And here I came to ask _you_ that question. I'm okay, Aleks. Haven't stopped kicking yet. What about you, though? How have you been coping?"

My tentative questioning was still too much, apparently. He took a step back and shrugged helplessly. "Still kicking," he echoed. The haunted look in his eyes betrayed him. I kept wishing he would tell me what was weighing on his mind, but I hadn't managed to get even a clue out of him since he decided to clam up during my time stuck in a fever dream. This was the man who had confessed a murder to me just a week ago. More than a week? I was losing track of time. Still, what could it possibly be that he thought he couldn't tell me?

I placed a hand on his arm and he looked away, anticipating what was coming next. "Aleks, I'm worried about you. Neither of us can do this alone. Please, _talk to me_ ," I stressed, trying in vain to recapture his gaze. I couldn't understand why it felt like I really was losing him, too.

He shook his head, causing his curls to swing, his eyes welling with the tears that came so easily for the both of us, and pulled me back into a tight bear hug. "I can't, sis, I just can't right now. Please, please stop asking." Then, he released me and walked away as fast as he could without running, glancing back at me once before shaking his head again and turning the corner to be hidden on the other side of the barn.

And that was how it had been going since I had woken up; fine, unless I tried to pry into what was upsetting him, and I had no idea what would hurt our relationship more in the long run, continuing to ask more than he wanted to tell, or ignoring his obvious troubles, leaving him to fend for himself like he wanted.

"Men can be such complex creatures," the sudden intrusion of Ultron's drawl made me jump, as it often did. I continued to wonder how he could sneak up on me with his heavy, clanking footsteps, but then again, I was never the most in tune with my surroundings.

I frowned, preoccupied with the widening gap between me and my only remaining family. "He's my brother, I should understand him better than anyone. I thought I did."

The android gave me a sidelong glance. "You probably do, but that doesn't mean you will always know everything, or that you're somehow failing him if you don't."

The simple words hit home, and the burden felt just a little lighter. "Thanks, Metal Head. Guess you _can_ use that big brain of yours for good, sometimes. Still, do you... know what's wrong?"

I turned to look at him as his intricate face plates shifted into an uncomfortable expression. After a moment's pause, he said, "I do have an idea, yes."

My heart hammered in my chest. "What is it? Why won't he tell me?" I demanded immediately, my own face scrunched into a look of desperation.

His vibranium brow furrowed further. "Katja," he trailed off in warning.

I sighed, dropping my eyes to his chest. "I know, I know. It isn't your place to say. I just wish I knew what is was I did wrong, y'know? He was fine, before."

"Hey," he said, waiting until my gaze had locked with his glowing scarlet one again. "It wasn't anything you did, alright? Try not to dwell on it; soon enough this will all be over, and you will both be able to move on." The robot's hand came up to hover over my cheek, and I chose, perhaps foolishly, to lean into the touch, though my ears warmed in embarrassment. I enjoyed the attention, especially with my little brother being distant. It was with increasing frequency that these gestures of familiarity were offered and accepted between us during our normal conversations. I was beginning to understand there was a vulnerability there, a need for casual validation and affection that we both seemed to share, and it made me worry that this- what even was it, an alliance, a buddy-ship, it seemed too rocky to be a legitimate friendship- that this _whatever-it-was_ would become very unhealthy very quickly.

I shook my head, derailing the train of thought. "This isn't a game, Ultron, we don't get to reset if things go south. Even if by some miracle we win this, the things we've lost will stay gone." I stop to blink at the tears that immediately appear with the thought of my Pa. "I don't want to lose my brother, too."

The imposing figure that the seven-foot metal man paints just barely flinches and snatches his hand away. For a moment I'm confused until I realize that he has taken my words the wrong way, like an accusation, surprising me with the amount of pain the guilt of having hurt him brings me. Yet another thing to worry about.

"Ultron, wait, I didn't mean it like that," I say in a rush, catching his arm. Still, I had hit a sore spot, with the venom that had been flying around with the memories of Pietro being dredged up. He pulls his arm away without hesitating, like he's just remembered that we were partners of circumstance, not acquaintances of choice. If it wasn't such a human response, I would have called it cold. "You jackass, don't be like that."

I can't tell if he was pretending he didn't hear me, or if he just didn't have anything to respond with. "I gave you both every opportunity to back out, everything you happen to lose is due to your actions, not mine," he says, and though his tone is no different from usual, there's a bite to the words and a wall trying to be built with them.

I'm flabbergasted. "What the hell? You on your robo-period or something? Jeez, Ultron, if you're gonna become so pissy every time someone accidentally offends you, maybe you should have just stayed dead; you, me, and everyone else would've been much happier that way." It was a low blow traded for a low blow. I'm trying so, so hard not to let the words he said make it into my mind, because I can't handle another voice telling me Pa's death was my fault. It's just easier to turn the hurt into fight, another idea we seemed to share.

He scowls, and the defiant stare-off lasts several long moments, before his broad shoulders drop, and he breaks the lock, turning his glare on the dusty ground, instead. "Fine, you're probably right," he grits out, and his surrender hurts almost as much as his insult. It deflates me. The apology in my mouth is still fighting to push past my pride to leave my lips when instead my feet are moving, and I notice too late that I've stormed off back inside the barn instead of mending what I should have fixed right away.

Ultron doesn't follow me in.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I mutter to myself, tapping my forehead to the nearest wooden beam with each word. Just when we had been making so much progress, not only with with stopping the war, but also as a team, I make Ultron upset with me, and hell, I didn't even _know_ what I did to make my brother so distant.

Of the only two allies I hadn't majorly messed up with yet, one was on the other side of the world, and the other was... terrifying and standing right there staring at me. I gulped. "Uh, Wanda, hi," I manage to get out, but getting caught berating yourself is more than a little awkward.

She glances at the entrance, and, seeing it empty, approaches me with determination set on her, honestly, ridiculously gorgeous face. "You and I need to talk."

I swallow again, and fleetingly wonder if she even remembers my name. "Yeah, shoot," I say, though to be frank I'd rather be shot with a real gun again than whatever it was that she was getting ready to accuse me of.

"You cannot trust him."

It's so obvious that I stare at her with a blank expression for what is probably too long to be polite. "Uh, yeah, and what is it that makes you think I need you to inform me of your opinion on this? You hate him, I get it. We all get it, but I make my decisions on my own, thanks. I'm a big girl."

She must be shocked at my response because she has to open and close her mouth a few times before her thoughts can be collected into a reply. "You _know_ what he has done, what he tried to do."

"Yes, I do. I'm not ignorant," I tell her, and I can hear the irritation seeping into my voice. The day had already been long enough, filled with way too much drama for my liking.

"Then how can you possibly justify behaving like you do?" Wanda demands, gesturing pointedly. "People have died because of him, lives have been destroyed!" She searches my face, and her expression becomes one of pity and disappointment at what she finds. A sigh heaves from her chest. "I do understand, you know."

An uncomfortable feeling settles in my gut. "Understand what?" I ask, though I expect I'll regret it.

"How he always knows what to say to get the reaction he wants, how he makes dreams seem possible and revenge seem close." Her eyes flash red, and I want to disagree with her, but I don't think I can. "He manipulated my brother and I, and he is doing it to you, too. Whatever it is he is doing to help us, he is doing it for himself."

Her words leave me feeling cold, and I can feel a peculiar headache building behind my eyes, but it abates so quickly I think I could have imagined it. I close my eyes in an attempt to stop the sensation from returning. "It's not like that this time. And even if it was, I'm not doing this for myself. I'm going to do everything I can to help stop the war because its the right thing to do, and I'm going to support Ultron as long as he isn't hurting anyone because I care about him. It's simple for me. I'm not going to be betrayed, because there isn't any way I can be. I just want to be there so that someone is when no one else wants to."

I reopen my eyes when I feel confident the headache won't return and meet hers, that had begun to hold understanding, though not approval. "I believe you," she breathes, and purses her lips. "You will be hurt," she adds.

I scoff. "Funnily enough, you're not the only one to have said that to me recently."

She frowned and went to retort, when her eyes widened. " _Get down_!" she yelled, but the sudden change of focus didn't register it's meaning with me until half the old barn collapsed on top of the red energy shield she had thrown up around us not a second before.

I landed heavily on my bum, more from fright than actual force, and my ears rang with the after effects of the explosion. Dust burned my lungs. Wanda still stood above me, grunting with effort as she held the debris. _Crap, they finally found us._

"Wanda, hold on!" I told her oh-so helpfully, though it was really more for my benefit than hers as I tried to gather my thoughts in the panic that had set in. Where had Aleks and Ultron been when they fired on the building? I could only hope they were still okay. My hand closed around the small firearm I had shoved into the back of my loose jeans. _Step one, hold onto the weapon_.

Her breathing was getting heavy and her arms, shaky. I could tell she wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. "Okay," she grit out, not daring to break her concentration, "I'm going to force it away. Try not to die."

I gulped. "Okay." I didn't even know my voice could sound that squeaky and terrified.

"Three," she said. "Two." I held my breath. "One!" With a roar of exertion she forced her arms and the power channeling through them outwards, sending rafters, planks, and sheet-metal flying back away from us, though some were left teetering at frightening angles, encouraging our hasty climb out over the destruction into the open air and relative safety. Or, actually, nix that last bit. A rush of sub-machine gun fire whistles past our heads, causing us to duck and Wanda to pull up another barrier to reflect the killing rain. I flicked the safety of my gun and bit down on my lip.

"Is it too much to ask," I comment bitterly, firing at one of the metal bodies around Wanda's shield, "that they just leave us alone while we foil their plans?"

Wanda snorts, and I think that under less dire circumstances I would have gotten a laugh out of her for that one. Instead, she removes one hand away from the job of producing the shield, and uses it to telekinetically grab a large portion of the fallen barn and hurl it at the group of robotic drones firing at us, flattening them. The sound of incessant gunfire didn't, well, _cease_ , but at least it wasn't being directed at us for a moment. There wasn't time to catch our breath, though.

"We need to find the others," she said, clearly taking charge of the situation, and hell, I wasn't going to try and take that away from her when she had just moments ago crushed half a dozen robots with a flick of her wrist. I nodded, and followed her as she picked her way out and over the rubble to where the rest of the invading mob of drones were closing in on what could only be my brother and the giant silver pain in the ass.

There was no time for panicking or dawdling, or hoping I wouldn't have to step up and could leave it to the others. Even if there was, these guys were my family and they were getting shot at. It was all guns blazing. At least three dozen of them remained standing and were still targeting the others, and as Wanda and I began to converge on them from behind, I could see flashes of red that could only be from Ultron's lasers. It gave me hope, because I knew at that moment I was confident that as long as the android was alive, he would protect Aleks.

I aimed my gun at where Ultron had told me the weakest points existed, and squeezed the trigger. The bullets tore through the thin steel alloy and jointing of the drone's waist, severing coolant lines and spilling coolant onto the grass as it fell to the ground, useless. A peculiar feeling settled in my gut as I turned the weapon in my hand onto the next and the next, missing almost as many shots as I managed to hit. There was a satisfaction to it, for certain, but also a sickening twist to extinguishing the lights in the eyes of the face that had belonged to Ultron when I had first met him, so many months ago. It felt wrong, even as I told myself it wasn't.

My original clip quickly ran out, and I pulled the spare out of my pocket and replaced it. Wanda used her power to haul one of the metal assailants away from me as it got too close and hurled it back at its brothers. More and more were switching targets, running at us from all directions and all but abandoning the men. Someone at HQ must have decided that Wanda was the priority target, and they probably weren't wrong, with what I had seen her do. However, it meant that things only grew more intense on our end. I still hadn't seen Aleks in the fray, but there was no time to think on that. Aim, shoot, and shoot again. Aim, shoot, shoot again. Sweat ran down my forehead and my spine, and a half second's glance told me what I was afraid of, that she was draining as fast and faster than I was, after having held a building off of us and doing the brunt of the smashing. Neither of us could keep this up forever.

A large chrome body slammed down in front of my and I screamed, shooting a bullet that simply bounced off its chest. Ultron, the owner of the body, took a moment to send an expression that said ' _Really?_ ' my way, and I would have stuck my tongue out if we weren't about to die, and if the state of the face giving me that look hadn't made my heart shudder in its place behind my ribs. "Stay behind me," his metallic voice ordered us, though he was looking at me as the words left his mouth. The empty words. I shake my head defiantly, with my mouth pursed, but I know my eyes look as scared as I feel. I open my mouth but nothing comes out. "Don't worry, your brother is safe," he adds, answering one of my unspoken questions, but not all of them as he shoves a too-close droid away and proceeds to melt its face off.

There was no time for my other questions, anyway.

Like what happened to his eye.

I raised my right hand once more, steadying the gun with my left, squeezing the trigger that spelled doom to bot after bot, slowly and steadily, doing what I could to ease the burden off my two vastly more equipped, and hence strained, companions. Wanda was giving everything she had left to keeping us three protected from their returning fire, and forcing them back whenever she could spare the motion. Ultron had switched to full bruiser mode, putting himself in the thick of it, crushing their metal skulls in his superior vibranium hands, rending them in two, swatting them away like flies. Brutal. Powerful. The grace of a natural predator. Until it wasn't. It was while he shot a beam of scarlet energy at one that it first became apparent. There was a hiccup in the flow, a putter, and as I caught the sight in my peripheral vision I was reminded of the night we fled the base, the wavering in his propulsion. Of the night he fought the Infinitus, the decline in his strength. There core I had helped attach, that was better than the previous, but not even close to perfect.

He kept fighting. They kept coming. Wanda's shield began to waver. His movements began to slow.

There was too many of them.

My mind couldn't take in more than the basic details of what was happening around me. It was like a sudden deafness had taken over me, and all that remained was blurred vision. I knew I was moving forward, but I didn't feel myself push past the Scarlet Witch, didn't hear my brother scream my name. All I saw was Ultron's defeated expression as his knee locked and the glowing red that seeped through his detailing flickered. The drones were swarming him now, forcing him onto his back, but what could they do against his vibranium shell? One stepped forward and pushed its gun into the dented and empty socket where his right optic ought to be.

I pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times. The robot holding the gun dropped away, and the others turned to look at me as I pushed through them and fell at his side, waiting for their next orders. One burning red eye stared up at me, the lens within adjusting sluggishly to focus on my face. My mess of a face. "No," I choke, and swallow. "Crap." A gear whirs loudly as my robot jackass tries to move, but nothing is achieved but a fading of the light in his eyes again, and he must decide that his energy is better used staying awake, because he stops and the light returns. I grit my teeth.

I knew I had next to no ammo left, but I released what I did into the nearest drone as Wanda struggled to keep them at bay. It really did seem like the end.

 _I am so sorry for all the stupid mistakes I've made. Please, look after my little brother, let him escape and never be found. And please, don't let Ultron think I ever truly hated him._

And, through a halo of light, an angel came to avenge us.

A brilliant line of that light broke through the attacking drones, shattering all in its path, until the wielder soared downwards _through_ the machines, physically _through_ them, pulling crucial circuitry out as he went. A croak of relief escaped my throat.

The Vision was back, and we were alive.

He destroyed the remaining numbers with an efficiency that I couldn't display tying my shoes in the morning. Wanda sank to her knees, likely in large part due to exhaustion, but the smile on her face said gratitude.

Me, I was a wreck. When the last attacker fell, my head drooped until my forehead rested on his cold metal chest, feeling the slick touch of hydraulic fluid against my cheek. I knew Vision, Wanda, and now my brother, too, were standing at the edge of the destruction, watching, but I didn't find an ounce of care left in me for anything but the broken friend in front of me. It took several deep, shaking breaths before I could form any sort of words past the lump in my throat. "Hey, buddy," I rasped, trying for lighthearted, running a hand over one of his large shoulders and tracing the crevices in it. "I don't want to ask you, because you probably shouldn't try to talk until we can get you all patched up, but if I don't then I'll feel rude, so are you okay? Again, don't answer." I swallowed the painful lump again as my eyes stung. "You did good. Just hang in there, okay?"

I sat up, to meet his lopsided gaze once more, and my forced smile returned to terror as the red once again dimmed. "Hey, wait, don't you dare go to sleep on me, man. Ultron," my voice raised in desperation as the glow disappeared into greyness. " _Ultron_!"

 _No, no, this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. I wanted time. I needed time with him._

A hand came to rest on my shoulder, causing me to gasp a breath that I didn't realize I had stopped breathing. Vision's gentle, low voice spoke. "Katja, maybe you should take some rest."

I knew that he meant well. He really did. Now, however, that I had begun breathing again, I couldn't stop, and I could feel myself growing lightheaded from the shallow inhalations. I couldn't rest. I needed more time.

"Katja," he repeated, more sternly, "you must calm down. You'll do yourself harm-"

"It's about bloody time I did, don't you think?" I interrupted him fiercely, shoving against his immovable green chest. "Don't you think it's bloody well _my turn to be the one getting hurt_?" My eyes roamed wildly to where my brother was standing beside Wanda, a new bruise on his cheek and dust in his hair, but otherwise unharmed. He wouldn't meet my eyes, or come any closer. If my heart didn't already feel completely numb, I'm sure it would have hurt at his rejection.

"Ultron will most likely be totally fine," the Vision chided me. "No need to worry."

I turned my stare back on the battered body of him in front of me, the eyes, one missing, the other deadened, and the hollow feeling in my heart spread to the rest of me. I wasn't sure I dared to believe his words, though it was probably irrational of me. "How can you be so sure?" I ask, my voice a harsh whisper.

"Well, it is one of the larger conveniences of possessing a mechanical body that can be repaired."

* * *

I had stalked off into the nearest copse of trees, and pulled myself up as high into it's branches as I could, so that I was no where near the operation that was currently taking place. I just couldn't watch as they took him apart, infused him with pieces of the other bots, and put him back together. It had already been hours, by the way the sun was beginning to set, and every minute I had been getting more anxious. What if the damage was too extensive? What if they repaired his body, but his mind was gone, and he turned on us? The longer I waited, the more outlandish my fears became.

Among them were my fears over just how worried I was for him. The stupid, stupid robot.

It was no news to me that I found him attractive. I had come to terms with that. Hell, he was a tall, broad, suave male that walked around without clothes on. So what if he was made out of metal? I could forgive myself for that. But what if there was more to it now?

No use. There was definitely more to it after all we had been through in our relatively short acquaintance. I needed time to decide whether these feelings were of any value. I buried my head in my hands. I needed him to live.

"Katja?"

I jumped with fright, almost falling out of the tree, and peered down to see my brother, looking tireder and sadder than I had ever seen him, and the remnants of my heart dropped. Was he...?

"He's awake."

I was down that tree faster than a squirrel on steroids. "He is? Is he okay?" I asked frantically, trying to ignore the hammering inside my chest.

Aleks nodded, his mouth a thin line, and his hands covered in grease. "He'll be fine," he answered. My arms were instantly around him, holding him tight and I choked out thank you after thank you, and tried to force myself not to cry again. He rubbed my back soothingly, accidentally smearing the black oil on my shirt just as Pa would have done. "Everything's okay, sis. We're all okay." He pulled back to look at me. "You know, if you would like, you could go see him while Wanda and I hear what the Vision has to say." He gives me a watery smile.

I give him one back. "Thank you," I tell him again.

He wipes away the one tear that had managed to escape. "Any time, dear sister."

I ran the whole way to the last structurally sound part of the barn, where they had been doing the operation. We knew we would have to move on now that we had been discovered, but if the Vision was right in what I had overheard before running off, there may not be any time for hiding left. So, for now, the only robot I cared about the whereabouts of was this one.

He was in a seated position on the ground, slouched against the wall, the light of the setting sun reflecting off the surfaces of him that weren't marred with dirt and oil. As I stepped into his range of notice though, he stood, and faced me, his expression unreadable. "Ultron?"

"Katja," was his simple reply, and the sound of it filled the pieces of me that been hollow.

I had never been one to think before acting, and this was no exception. My feet moved, ran towards him, my arms encircled his neck, and in his shocked uncertainty were able to pull him into a stoop as I pushed my tear stained lips against his warm vibranium ones.

* * *

 **A/N: WHAAAAAAAT? Did I just actually write you guys the dreaded First Kiss Scene and then stop the chapter in the middle of it? Did I really just do that to you?**

 **The answer is yes. Yes I did.**

 **And I can't guarantee a quick continuation unless you leave a hearty review, y'know *nudge nudge***

 **Hope you guys enjoyed reading this, cuz it was a mongrel to write! Let me know what you thought.**

 **(Also, I would love a beta-reader, so if anyone reading was interested, let me know, kay?)**


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